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Trident University International Samantha M. Deveraux Module 3 Session Long Project ITM 301: Principles of Information Systems in Business Organizations Professor Carole Angolano, PhD 02 February 2011 What is a wiki and how can it be useful for an organization? A wiki has been described as an openly expandable assortment of interlinked and merged web pages, a “hypertext” system used primarily for storing and sharing information, and most simply as an online database with editable pages (Grace, 2009). This type of information system can be useful to an organization because it easily allows free sharing of information. With wikis, communication capabilities are enhanced. Wikis are generally considered efficient and they expand a given network by providing links to other websites, can track all edits done to the page with an audit system, and they can usually provide built-in search engine functions (Grace, 2009). How to create a wiki Naturally, creating a wiki is very simple. These sites are designed to be user friendly and many of them are actually free. In order to find a wiki site to use, I started out by getting on a search engine (www.google.com) and simply typed “list of free wikis.” From the choices I was given, I selected Wikipedia’s site entitled “List of Wiki Software”. Wikipedia presented a lengthy list which showed an assortment of wikis and some specifications about each one (Wikipedia, 2012). From this list I chose the wiki site Mojomojo.org.
What steps do you need to follow? 1. After choosing a wiki site, go to the homepage and click “register.” Begin to register with your personal information (name, email address) and then choose a user name and password. 2. The site will instantly send a validation email to the email address you registered with. The email will contain an activation link. 3. Open the email and click on the activation link. 4. The activation link will bring you to your new wiki site. Begin editing your own wiki page with whatever information you would like to share. This link to my wiki page is here: http://mojomojo.

org/smdev/ Why did you select this product? The first reason I picked this product was because it is advertized as free. The second reason why I picked it was due to its catchy name. It reminded me of Austin Powers. However, the site itself is pretty plain; it is not very mojo-esque at all. Still, the term “free” reigns over all. What are the advantages and disadvantages? One of the main advantages a wiki provides is allowing given information to be easily shared online on an accessible site. Wikis are also simple to create, use, and are often times free. They provide a central repository for information and even have tracking features to monitor the editing processes. Another advantage that might come in handy is the fact that a wiki site can take the load off of a user’s email capacity (Grace, 2009). It is more efficient to share and store large amounts of information on a site rather than in an email box. Of course there are some disadvantages whenever it comes to free information on an online database. There can be issues with security and with various legal or regulatory laws. An organization may run into problems with employees not knowing how to create and successfully maintain their wiki sites, therefore training may be a necessity (Grace, 2009).
How this is related to the learning objectives of this module This assignment is directly related to the learning objectives of this module. I was able to describe how certain web 2.0 technologies (specifically wikis) can help with and enhance information sharing within an organization. I proved and experienced that a wiki is easy to find, create and edit.

Works Cited: Grace, Tay Pei Lyn (2009). Wikis as a Knowledge Management Tool. Journal of Knowledge Management. Retrieved 02 February 2012 at http://lpis.csd.auth.gr/mtpx/km/material/JKM-13-4b.pdf (2012) List of Wiki Software. Wikipedia. Retrieved 02 February 2012 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_software