Documents Contributed by ECAR, Social Computing, and Wiki

This research bulletin examines the wiki philosophy and how it fits within the Web 2.0 context. While wikis offer a number of benefits for supporting knowledge creation in collaborative groups, the literature suggests a strong need to establish conventions to enable long-term success. Based on an extensive literature review, the results of a research project into blog and wiki use in Australian libraries, and evaluations of the wiki installation of the RUBRIC Project sponsored by the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Science, and Training, the bulletin also examines how wiki technology can enable the online collaborative process.

Citation for this work: Watson, Kate, and Chelsea Harper. "Supporting Knowledge Creation: Using Wikis for Group Collaboration" (Research Bulletin, Issue 3). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

This research bulletin offers representative examples of social software in action within IT organizations at three institutions -- Duke University; the University of California, San Diego; and the University of Washington. It illustrates ways in which social software tools enhance staff communication and collaboration, and how the tools can support more robust applications such as content management systems.

The origins of social software—from blogs to facebooks to instant messaging to wikis—are firmly based in the information technologies of the past few decades. This research bulletin explores the genesis of some of the current social software products, helps define common characteristics, describes how the software is being used in higher education, and examines the implications for activities in colleges and universities.

Presentation at the Fifth Annual ECAR Symposium, December 6-8, 2006, in Carefree, Arizona. This talk focuses on understanding the culture and design criteria of social software and how they both reflect and impact institutions and organizations.

Adoption of blogs, wikis, tagging, bookmarking services, folksonomies, social networking software, and media-oriented services (e.g., podcasting) has been extraordinary over the past few years. Information technology strategists must assess this "social software" to understand its applicability within higher education. Burton Group believes that the intersection of multiple trends across consumer and enterprise markets will have long-term implications (e.g., informal learning and community building). This Burton study presents issues, trends, analysis, recommendations, and details.