Encouraging Semantic Mediawiki use with non technical people

Overview

SMW vs Wordpress

Success and failure

How

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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/4027443168_879c7b7ccf.jpg

Who is a non-technical person

• Focus is not technology but they can contribute in some way
• Never learned programming concepts
• Didn't realize Wikipedia can be edited
• Maybe used a web content management system, blog, Facebook

What do they want

1. to solve their problem, usually a "one of those" web site with some special requirements
2. something that looks good - design is still paramount
3. to learn about the participatory web
4. to create reusable data?
5. to have more control over their own site but keep things simple
   1. usually they don't want to 'innovate,' just do what everyone else is doing
6. to work with someone they trust

What do I want

1. promote digital literacy ­— filling out forms isn't it, stop treating computers as a typewriter
   1. reusable data under fair terms of re-use
2. get people to consider issues of site design and how to organize information
3. help flatten organizations and their external relationships
4. promote transparency and co-development
5. grow my own skills based on relevant requirements

Types and motivations of participants

• Traditional executive — "everyone else is doing it," inexpensive solution
  • ideally they will participate but getting them to can be difficult
  • may be more cautious about full commitment - license, security, who can access and edit
• Creative group or individual — may be inspired but needs constant guidance
• Worker bee — tasked to use the wiki
  • may be less receptive to wiki ideals, make it straightforward

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• Wordpress is task drive. Forms for every day tasks.
  • Everything oriented towards content management around blogging
  • SEO, user management
  • "Delete" content, one click

Compare to Wordpress - task driven - "Raskin vs Englebart"

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Failure

http://wiki.zooid.org/images/no-edits.png

• Commitment vs follow through
• Tangly mess

Success

1. Useful read-only resource
2. basic editing using forms
3. wiki markup
4. Creating templates
5. Creating queries
6. Adjusting classes
7. Creating classes
8. understanding of good schema design, distributed data, licensing

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Identify groups, strategies

Threaten - others are doing it, loss of leadership

Inspire - self empowerment, less dependence, creating, leading, "where the web is going"

Lots and lots of guiding

Appoint leads based on interests, give them responsibilities

Peer helpers - spread the virus

Translators

Profles of uses

The importance of design

• promote the cues of Wikipedia but provide something original

Exhibit example of copying and pasting to excel using semantic web data