The Wiki as a 21st century Water Cooler- a look at knowledge building processes in action in Wikipedia history archivesby Line Vittrup- MA in International Business Communication- External lecturer at the Aarhus School of Business, Denmark-Consultant within Knowledge Management

Background:This paper is based on my MA thesis (completed in April 2009):“Wikis as Water Coolers?”A study of the wiki’s ability to support the processes of knowledge conversion

My studies are based on the history archives of a sample of wiki pages in WikipediaHere, contributors to the wiki page can discuss and negotiate what they consider to be ‘true’ knowledge, i.e. what should be displayed in the article as ‘correct’We are thus able to see/read knowledge creation in actionScientific background

What is ‘water cooler talk’?Casual exchange of knowledge and ideasA place where all types of people meetOften valuable dialog in which knowledge is createdHowever, the ‘talk’ is not captured in writing or documented in any other wayCould the wiki be a place for water cooler talk?And could it capture this type of dialog for others to learn from?

Research questions:Can processes of knowledge creation be seen in a wiki?If so, what do they look like?How can we explain and better understand the process of knowledge creation by use of discourse analysis?Now, some theories…

Jackson & Klobas (2008):The knowledge-sharing model is based on the notion of social constructivism as given by Berger and Luckmann (1967)Knowledge sharing involves a process of objectivation, legitimation, and reification in which knowledge is agreed upon and accepted as ‘the norm’ Fig 2.1: The knowledge-sharing model (Jackson and Klobas, 2008)

‘Ba’ as shared context in motion (Nonaka, Toyama & Konno, 2000)‘Ba’ is the shared context in which knowledge is created, and is shaped by the participants and how they participateThe ‘space’ does not necessarily refer to a physical space, but may also be virtual or mentalThey key to understanding ‘ba’ is that knowledge is created in interactions

Gee’s building tasks“We always and simultaneously build seven different realities by use of seven building tasks” (Gee, 2005)Tasks used in the analysis:Significance: does the text make some things seem more significant or not than others?Politics: does the text make a distinction between what is good, right, wrong, correct or proper?Connections: does the text make connections between things more apparent or irrelevant?Sign systems and knowledge: does the text privilege or disprivilege certain types of knowledge?These building tasks represent the type of argumentative tools we would make use of in a process of negotiating meaning.

Example from the analysis

Example from the analysis

Conclusion…Gee’s building tasks can be used to identify processes of knowledge creation in a wikiThey help explain how individuals engage in the process of sharingThey help explain the process of negotiation of meaningFour of the building tasks were of particular interest to this analysis: politics, significance, connections and sign systems and knowledgeThe wiki harvests knowledge creation in action, and gives us a still picture of the process of knowledge conversionYes, wikis can be water coolers!

Perspective…How can we use this knowledge of wikis and processes of knowledge conversion in organizations today?We gain an understanding of how knowledge sharing processes work (and look like) in the wikiWe gain an understanding of the type of communication we see in wikisWe gain an understanding of how communication may go bad in the process of knowledge creationWe are able to the see the layers of the knowledge produced in the wiki - how it is constructed, and what formed this knowledge

“Knowledge management is not a question of how to capture, store and distribute pieces of knowledge, but rather about how to create situations and conditions that further knowledge sharing and thus knowledge creation”Perspective…

Contact info:Line VittrupEmail: linevittrup@hotmail.comTwitter: vittrupSkype: baklundvittrupPhone: +45 60957700 Blog (Danish): www.linevittrup.dk