I think that more people read wikis than contribute to them, so this
'experiment' (see below) is
a little biased. On the other hand, it is often easier to put a question
to CCP4bb than to search
for the answer in wikis and other documentation, however well organized
they are.
Kay: can you see how often your XDS wiki (for example) is accessed?
The small number of different contributors to a wiki is however a
problem. Replying to an email
is something that has to be done almost immediately and reaches
instantly a large audience.
Making a contribution to a wiki lacks the urgency and can be put off for
a few weeks, and does
not reward the contributor with immediate feedback or lead to
controversial discussions.
Perhaps someone should make a list of the questions most frequently
asked on CCP4bb and
the most helpful replies that they generated. This could even be made
into a wiki.
George
On 02/14/2014 09:15 AM, Frank von Delft wrote:
Seems it's worth thinking about this as an experiment that has
actually been done: BB and wiki have been available in parallel for
many years now; so where has all the activity happened, where do
people go for information - and more to the point, where are other
people happy to volunteer information?
According to what you say, the experiment has a clear outcome.
Even crystallographers are social beings, and thrive on interaction.
Wikis don't interact.
I should add I'm not at all clear what problem is being addressed
here: if I get an email I don't want to read, I make a tiny
hand-movement (= hit delete) and it vanishes forever. Are people
suggesting we abandon an empirically proven mechanism merely to save
me the need for this tiny hand-movement?
phx
--
Prof. George M. Sheldrick FRS
Dept. Structural Chemistry,
University of Goettingen,
Tammannstr. 4,
D37077 Goettingen, Germany
Tel. +49-551-39-33021 or -33068
Fax. +49-551-39-22582
