What uses might a collaborative wiki or blog have in your chosen (current or desired) work environment? How would they support learning and/or performance? What would be the design and implementation challenges if management tried to do this? What would be the design and implementation challenges of a user-initiated effort?
This topic was touched on early in week 1 by Brust and others, but I would like to expand on the use of a wiki to collaboratively update flight manuals in the Coast Guard. Prior to entering this program, one of my collateral duties was to convert the Air Force HC-130J flight manual into a Coast Guard specific flight manual. The original document was ~900 pages and consisted of general aircraft data, normal, emergency, and non-standard operating procedures. My goal was to evaluate the content and alter it to meet our operational needs. The project team consisted of three subject matter experts responsible for the technical writing and production with the assistance of independent contractors. The first draft was printed and distributed to the field for formative evaluation with comments/edits collected via email and phone communications. This cycle was repeated several times until the final product was approved. The flight manual is now being used by the field and recommended changes continue to be collected via the old methods.
This revision process could have been much more dynamic if the edits were conducted using a wiki. Completed sections of the manual could be hosted on the site and real-time edits captured during the writing process. The same editorial methods would be used to evaluate proposed changes, but the process would be more streamlined. I forget who posted the link, but it appears that the Army developed a similar process for their field manuals and the Coast Guard could benefit from lessons learned. However, I don't think flight manual edits could be user-approved. In other words, the process of submitting the document through the proper channels would still be required, but the process for producing the product could be greatly improved.
This topic was touched on early in week 1 by Brust and others, but I would like to expand on the use of a wiki to collaboratively update flight manuals in the Coast Guard. Prior to entering this program, one of my collateral duties was to convert the Air Force HC-130J flight manual into a Coast Guard specific flight manual. The original document was ~900 pages and consisted of general aircraft data, normal, emergency, and non-standard operating procedures. My goal was to evaluate the content and alter it to meet our operational needs. The project team consisted of three subject matter experts responsible for the technical writing and production with the assistance of independent contractors. The first draft was printed and distributed to the field for formative evaluation with comments/edits collected via email and phone communications. This cycle was repeated several times until the final product was approved. The flight manual is now being used by the field and recommended changes continue to be collected via the old methods.
This revision process could have been much more dynamic if the edits were conducted using a wiki. Completed sections of the manual could be hosted on the site and real-time edits captured during the writing process. The same editorial methods would be used to evaluate proposed changes, but the process would be more streamlined. I forget who posted the link, but it appears that the Army developed a similar process for their field manuals and the Coast Guard could benefit from lessons learned. However, I don't think flight manual edits could be user-approved. In other words, the process of submitting the document through the proper channels would still be required, but the process for producing the product could be greatly improved.
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