docWikis

[Marielle Lange]

> The examples go on forever. Why should the same weary volunteer  
> experts -- on newsgroups and help boards -- answer the same 200 or  
> 300 questions over and over and over again? For such questions, all  
> that is needed would be a link to the right page on the wiki or the  
> right page in the onboard help documentation. That would leave the  
> volunteer gurus free to field the relatively few new, significant  
> questions. Once solved, those issues would also go to the docWiki.  
> And so on.

Welcome to the wiki sect... sorry universe Tim!

> I'm not talking about just Apple or Windows. Every application,  
> programming language, specific machine, etc., would all benefit  
> from this approach. The thing that makes me crazy about this, when  
> I think about it, is that it just wouldn't be very difficult, or  
> expensive, for any manufacturer or developer to participate.

To the point.

> Some kind of open standard for onboard and/or online help would be  
> very helpful, of course.

Exactly! ... but you also have to take into account economical factors.

For us, users, what counts is free access to quality information,  
frequently updated.

But the ones who are likely to make a quality contribution to this  
documentation are experts (see this mailing list, for instance).  
Experts are happy to do that in a context where they get something  
back (meaningful life, giving back... but also securing a regular  
income). It's not just about standards, it's about finding a way for  
persons to work collaboratively, but still have a way for the experts  
to have their contribution and level of expertise recognized. A  
mailing list is most suitable for experts because each email posted  
by an expert is a small add for his company.

I know that in some game or open source development communities, they  
have a way to "rank" contributors. Anybody with more information on  
this? (reputation system, is it called?).

Then, in the economical world, there is the notion of "decisive  
advantage". It's a bit frightening for experts to participate to an  
initiative that may have some community members accede to "master"  
level 3 times faster than they would have 10 years ago... just  
because of the important difference in quality of information. Even  
more frightening if community members come to believe they don't need  
experts anymore.

I am for a free society. I am personally not interested in money. I  
would do exactly the same amount of work if I was paid nothing for it  
(then in a society where I have no rent to pay, where food is free).  
But we are not in a "free society". We all have a rent or mortgage to  
pay. So, how can we get to a fair balance between the interests of  
all parties: the ones who use services and the ones who guarantee the  
quality of the service we use?

Marielle
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Marielle Lange (PhD),  Psycholinguist

Alternative emails: mlange at blueyonder.co.uk, M.Lange at ed.ac.uk
Homepage:  http://homepages.lexicall.org/mlange/
Lexicall: http://lexicall.org
Revolution-education: http://revolution.lexicall.org