Online Information Conference: Wikis - the Lightweight Software (R)evolution

Jeffrey Walker from Atlassian is keen to create lightweight software: lightweight software?

• Cheap or free
• Useful but not complicated
• Easy to install or accessible over the internet (the web is used as the platform)
• Easy and quick to spot how to use this tool

It might be open source, but one of the best companies at achieving this simplicity in usability is... Google.

Wikis: The Origin of the Species
Wikis, web pages anyone can change, have been around a long time, but we have taken until recently to develop the tool and its uses to our advantage. It has evolved from "What is a wiki?" to seeing how we can collaborate anytime, anyplace.

What we should expect from a wiki:

• Contribute:
  Pages, Attachments, Images, Comments, Email
  
• Organise:
  Spaces: Global, Team, Personal
  
• Find:
  You can search everything, including attached files. We should be able to filter what information we want to search for
  
• Notify:
  We should be able to use email or RSS to receive notifications of changes
  
• Blogs:
  Incorporated into the work and ethic of the wiki. Internal blogs are great to talk about client meetings out in the field with the guys back at the ranch.
  
• Control:
  Stem objections and concerns in larger organisations by having as little control as possible - don't pander to the initial rumblings from managers/controllers.