Gregory Szorc's blog

Centralized Information Repository @ Case

Are you ever left scratching your head after trying to find information on the university network? Do you ever set off to do something that you are sure has been done before, only to be left trying to figure it out yourself because it isn't documented anywhere? In the IT world, this is a common occurence, especially for us power users. We attempt to streamline and unify our solutions to solving problems. Being the logical type that we are, we gladly accept another's solution, as it prevents dichotomous implementations while achieving near instant results at a satisfactory level. Furthermore, the time spent solving the problem could be used improving the existing solution. There is one catch: the solution must be published and easily accessible.

Enter wikis. A wiki allows multiple users to collaborate and create an easily accessible encyclopedia of knowledge. As wikis can be edited by anyone, they can include whatever you want and can go in directions not allowed by well-defined and linearized collaboration software. If a wiki were to be deployed at a university level, the potentials would be endless. IT staff could post procedures for configuring systems, applications, and services. Currently, this information is spread across Help, Blog, Mailing Lists, e-mail, and other information repositories (including our heads). Researches could post details about labs and discoveries. Instructors could post details about the classes they teach. Students could edit these pages with comments about the classes. People could share recommendations for places to eat in the campus area, the social scene around campus, or encyclopedia-like entries about the history of Case.

A university-wide wiki would be the portal to heaps of information. If you were ever confused about how to do something and didn't know where to start, the wiki would be there for you. Wikis can return more useful information than search engines because the data is organized by people, not algorithms. Wikis therefore increase productivity by providing a centralized means for obtaining relevant information on a given subject. I imagine an utopia where people can surf to wiki.case.edu, type in a phrase, and be presented with the collective sum of information provided by the Case community. Until then, I will have to settle for reinventing the wheel or spending precious time Googling in hopes of finding an existing solution to my problem.

You can ping this entry by using http://blog.case.edu/gps10/mt-tb.cgi/1396 .

While this is not exactly what you are proposing, the Kelvin Smith Library is working hard to preserve the collective knowledge of the Case community. Digital Case will provide the mechanism and resources to preserve the data and knowledge developed and shared in campus.

i want to be able to go to wiki.case.edu and see reviews on places to eat...and history of campus buildings....and....biographies of professors...i want it now!

please tell me this is in the works!

This is a wonderful idea. I hope it gets off the ground.

We could just install a plugin for Blackboard!
</sarcasm>

Sweet... we could easily integrate the closed source Blackboard plugin with existing infrastructure too! Plus it would have the added functionality of being a real wiki, unlike MediaWiki.

A Case wiki would rock.