readings - week 6

I noticed that most of the readings - Wiki entry in Wikipedia, Wide Open Spaces: Wikis Ready or Not , Wikis in the Workplace: How Wikis can Help Manage Knowledge in Library Reference Services, TechEssence.Info White Paper on Wikis - stated that one of the uses for wikis was team collaberation on a document which all members of the team can access and edit. I think that for this to work the team members have to value each others contributions and truly collaborate. Due to the editorial freedom of the wiki, there is a danger that one team member could delete another team member's work that he or she considers irrelevant or inaccurate. I know that in Wide Open Spaces: Wikis Ready or Not the author refers to this as the "standard objection" and refutes the objection with the idea that the community polices itself. He uses Wikipedia as an example of a wiki which does this. I dont disagree that in a large community of editors and contributors this policing might occur, but in a small team the "vandal" is a coworker and there is likely to be open conflict. The article Wide Open Spaces: Wikis ready or not does point out that wikis are very flexible and can be used as brainstorming boards. If team members were told to insert a comment next to parts of a document that they questioned and told not to delete something that they did not agree should be included, I think that the wiki could be used for team collaboration on a project. The article On Uses for Wikis and Gardening indicates that some Wikis provide a discussion space so that changes can be discussed before implemented. Also as stated in Wikis in the Workplace: How Wikis can Help Manage Knowledge in Library Reference Services, wikis work best in environments where there is a high degree of trust.