Wiki Technology as A "Free" Collaborative Tool within an Organizational Setting

IKI IS A HAWAIIAN WORD THAT REfers to being quick. Leuf and Cunningham (2001) define a Wiki as “a freely expandable collection of interlinked Web pages, a hypertext system for storing and modifying information — a database where each page is easily editable by any user with a forms-capable Web browser client” (p. 14). The authors also differentiate between the terms Wiki (uppercase W) and wiki: the former is used to describe the technology concept, and the latter is used to refer to an application. Ward Cunningham invented the first wiki in 1995. His objective was to publish information collaboratively on the Web (Leuf & Cunningham, 2001), and this first wiki Web site (http:// c2.com/cgi/wiki) is still actively maintained. Cunningham’s vision was to create a wiki as “the simplest online database that could possibly work” (p. 15). Wikis are interactive Web sites that can offer numerous benefits to users (Wagner, 2004; Kille, 2006). Anyone can create a new wiki page, add or edit content in an existing wiki page, and delete content within a page, without any prior knowledge or skills in editing and publishing on the Web (Kille, 2006). Wikis offer a simple editing and publishing interface that can be used and understood easily (Leuf & Cunningham, 2001; Wagner, 2004; Kille, 2006). Fuchs-Kittowsk and Köhler (2002) define a wiki as an “open author system for a conjoined construction and maintenance of Websites” (p. 10). These authors suggest that Wiki technology can facilitate cooperative work and knowledge generation. Specifically, they suggest that a wiki might be applicable in different contexts as a