atw: Re: Media and preference: the unravelling thread

Tony said: "Provided there is a critical mass of interested
contributors, user-generated or customer generated (ie, peer-generated)
content is peer-reviewed by its very nature." 

============

I think this critical mass issue is often overlooked in all the hype
about any new technology. Articles I've read (and no, I can't quote any
right now) indicate that of all those who *can* contribute to a wiki (or
other collaborative content media), only about 10% or fewer do. Most
either never read it, or read it but don't bother to contribute. Whether
that's fear of not knowing how, not knowing the correct piece of
information, or just not caring I don't know. I'd suspect Wikipedia's
contribution pool would be less than 10% of its readership.

Of course, these readership figures may be similar for online Help... 

This doesn't address Geoffrey's original questions, but I felt that
something should be said about the adoption of new technologies. It
takes quite a long time for critical mass to develop. Early adopters --
like Tony -- see the benefits (and downsides) straight away. In my
experience, large corporates, govt depts etc. take a LOT longer to adopt
these types of technologies -- at least at the critical mass level. My
current major (global) client is still labouring with repetitive 100 to
1000 page Word documents, which would immediately benefit from a single
sourcing authoring tool, but that's not going to happen for a LONG
time... And a wiki? Well, there may be a few internal ones scattered
around this client's many offices (again, set up and used by early
adopters), but as far as the corporate body of knowledge goes, I'd
predict that's not going to happen for a long time either.

One other thing, perhaps a little unrelated, but which I saw when I
worked at a minerals processing plant: When you're out on the floor and
you have an emergency, the tired shift worker with the big, dirty
fingers in welding or chemical gloves and other PPE is not going to go
over to the computer to access some online information on how to deal
with the emergency. Hell, his fingertips are bigger than the keyboard
keys, the computer may be off (or not exist in his work area), or be so
dusty that using the keyboard or the screen is difficult. His training
and on the job experience, and perhaps a strategically placed poster or
laminated quick reference card, will be what gets him out of the 'nure.
(And yes, I use 'he' deliberately as most of those on the floor are
males.)

My 2c worth... (I have been enjoying this discussion!)

Rhonda 


Rhonda Bracey 
rhonda.bracey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.cybertext.com.au
CyberText Newsletter/blog: http://cybertext.wordpress.com
Author-it Certified Consultant
-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Anthony Self
Sent: Thursday, 12 March 2009 2:45 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: Media and preference: the unravelling thread

Hi Geoff

I have an advantage in having my notes from the 2007 TCANZ conference
you mentioned, and I didn't say that I thought Wikis were about to put
technical writers out of work. I said that Wikis should give us reason
to think about where we would fit in should peer-generated,
collaboratively authoring become widespread. I also made the point that
document delivery is only one use for Wikis; a collaborative authoring
tool is another. Microsoft used Wikis during the development of their
Visual Studio documentation, and then transformed that content into
"traditional" help files. There are also tools around that allow you to
convert Wiki-generated content into RoboHelp projects.

I'm not sure that Wikis should be described as a medium. Most Wikis are
delivered through stock-standard, HTML-based Web pages, just as many
Help systems are. (Visual Studio users are blissfully unaware that Wikis
were used in the documentation process.) Wikis would more accurately fit
into an authoring tool category, or perhaps into a content management
category. We need to draw a distinction also between customer-generated
content (bottom up, democratic), and vendor-generated content (top down,
autocratic). Wikis can be either.

If a group of senior Boeing 747 pilots used a Wiki to collect their
knowledge and experience on how to fly a Boeing 747, surely the result
would be as trustworthy (if not more so) as a pilot's manual written by
a senior pilot using Microsoft Word? A problem may exist if the Wiki was
not restricted to senior pilots working on the documentation project,
but was opened up so that anyone in the world could contribute. Nearly
all Wiki software that I have looked at has permissions built in,
because this is an almost universal requirement. 

Provided there is a critical mass of interested contributors,
user-generated or customer generated (ie, peer-generated) content is
peer-reviewed by its very nature. 

I am not saying there are no problems with peer-generated content and
customer-generated content. Many companies and organisations have found
ways to solve many of these problems. I'm not even advocating the use of
Wikis, let alone suggesting that public Wikis should be used to create
nuclear power station manuals. I am humbly suggesting that we start
thinking how we, as technical communicators, confront the challenges of
Wikis and other forms of peer-generated content.

Finally, on the question of trust. In late 2009, Forrester research
released results from a survey on how much consumers trust different
sources for information. They found independent (non-corporate)
information were the most trustworthy sources. Interestingly, the survey
showed that only 16% of consumers trusted corporate blogs and only 33%
trusted wikis (such as Wikipedia). 

Tony Self

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