Putting it all together

I haven't blogged for awhile. I've been reading the Craft of Research and trying to narrow down my claim, make sure I have reasons/warrants/evidence. I know my claim is about user-authored content such as a company wiki and how to manage the content. I think Technical Writers haven't done enough to manage wiki content at companies.


The problem of content management systems, or web content management systems, and company wikis has been around, according to research articles, since at least 2002, yet nobody seems to be any better at managing the content in 2010. Technical writers should be looking at ways to manage wiki content for organizations.

Evidence
Conduct a google scholar search. Set the search results to display only 2009+ results. Search for Why Content Management Still Doesn't Work. Here are some results:

1.

Transformational metadata and the future of content management — An interview with Madi Solomon of Pearson PLC

(2009)

Metadata ingest may be one of the most costly endeavors in managing and maintaining a digital asset management system but it is well worth the effort if approached with a little innovation. Today we explore how metadata's value exceeds content in a world where information is the sandbox and everybody's a player.

2. Blending content and process management technologies with Web 2.0 tools for effective e-information management (2009)

The presentation covers document, content and process management technologies in an e-government environment; information classification, taxonomy development and maintenance; leveraging Web 2.0 tools for tacit knowledge sharing and collective preferences.


Issue: management of content

Claim: despite the identification of this issue years ago, content management is still lacking. Technical Writers should apply Web content management techniques to wikis.

Reasons: mismanagement, now more than ever content is getting harder to manage

Warrant: nobody will be able to find anything, duplication, low usage,

Backup: proof

Not only is content management in your future, it is one of the greatest challenges faced by businesses (Hackos)

1. Digital content management: the search for a content management system

a case study that demonstrates the increasing needs of digital content management

Digital content management system is a software system that provides preservation, organization and dissemination services for digital collections. By adapting the systems analysis process, the University of Arizona Library analyzed its needs and developed content management system requirements for finding a suitable information system that addresses the increasing needs of digital content management. Dozens of commercial and open source candidates were examined to match against the requirements. This article provides detailed analysis of three major players (Greenstone, Fedora, and DSpace) in key areas of digital content management: preservation, metadata, access, and system features based on the needs of the University of Arizona Library. This paper describes the process used to analyze and evaluate potential candidates and includes results of analysis to illuminate the process

interesting - the systems analysis process - they analyzed systems - through a process

backs up my claim that there is a need for digital content management

search term_ cms

2. Understanding Web content management systems: evolution, lifecycle and market

2003 - literature review

The volume of digital content available on the World Wide Web has increased dramatically over the past six years. Some form of Web content management (WCM) system is becoming essential for organisations with a significant Web presence as the volume of content continues to proliferate. WCM systems have evolved rapidly from the basic HTML editors of six years ago, to the sophisticated content production and publishing tools available today. This paper presents a WCM hierarchy, examines the underlying Web content management lifecycle, and identifies the key market trends for WCM systems

backs up my claim that there is a high volume of digital content avail on the WWW and that some management of it is ESSENTIAL

search term_wcm

3. Content Management for Dynamic Web Delivery

by Joann T. Hackos

2002 - book

Content management begins with a vision of the users' experience -- learning what information your customers, employees, and trading partners need from you and how best to deliver it. Successfully publishing your content to the Web and multiple other channels means grounding your strategy in your user community and building on it a comprehensive information model. An effective information strategy in today's highly competitive e-business world requires planning, design, structure, and collaboration. At the center of this strategy is content -- the currency for competing in the Digital Age. Your effectiveness at managing and delivering content can make the difference between business success and failure. Not only is content management in your future, it is one of the greatest challenges faced by businesses today.

nuf said Joan Hackos!

4. Content, content, everywhere...time to stop and think? The process of Web content management.

2002 - paper

Most organisations have implemented a Web site. Many are now experiencing problems associated with maintaining the content of that Web site. We discuss what has led to Web content management (WCM), what is driving it, and propose a WCM framework to help organisations to understand how to manage and control their Web sites better. Research involving the use of this framework is at an early stage, and any feedback is welcome

can any of this be applied to wikis to end user authored content?

5. The Wiki Way: Collaboratoin and Sharing on the Internet

2001 - article

Suitable for system administrators or managers seeking an affordable content-management solution, <I>The Wiki Way</I> shows off how to take advantage of Wiki collaborative software, which allows users to post and edit content remotely. This book is all you need to get up and running with this exciting (and free) way to build and manage content.<p> This text is first and foremost a guide to what Wiki software is and how to install, customize, and administer it within your organization. Early sections discuss the advantages of Wiki Web sites, which allow all users to add and edit content. While it might sound like a free-for-all, the authors suggest such Web sites have been used successfully in research, business, and education to document project designs, for brainstorming, and for otherwise creating content in a collaborative fashion. Case studies for such organizations as Georgia Tech, New York Times Digital, and Motorola give a glimpse of Wiki used in real settings, so you will get a sense of what to expect.<p> This book is also a guide to the nuts and bolts of downloading and installing Wiki and customizing it for your site. Sections on basic tweaks to Wiki's Perl scripts will let you customize your site to match your organization's

Evaluating a CMS

How to evaluate a cms, james robertson, 2002

Selecting and implementing a content management system (CMS) will be one of the largest IT projects tackled by many organisations. With costs running into the millions of dollars, it is vital that the right CMS package be selected. 

Tools

Author-It

http://www.writersua.com/articles/news/news_101407a.htm

review

http://cms-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

eZ Publish

Joomla!

Drupal

WordPress.org

Movable Type

Expression Engine

Mambo

Vivvo CMS

Textpattern

B2evolution

1. Digital content management: the search for a content management system

On Creswell's Research Design 2nd Edition

I am in the dark again
I don't know where to focus
I think this Creswell thing has got me in a ruckus
I want to say I've quantitatively gathered enough information
But qualitatively the stuff I've found is causing agitation
To gather things together for an APP or take things apart for a proposal
Is this to be the end of me this obtusive living this invisible disposal

How to Make Google Better - Make it More Structured (like Online Help)

What's wrong with Google? Why do I always end up with search results that lead me far away from my intended search topic or are just plain horrible?

In comparing traditional online help to user-authored help, what are the differences? Is one better than the other?

Better would mean that more users are using it, it is more effective. Looking at traditional online help, I see a table of contents, linked  topics, linked associated topics, an orderly structure, a hierarchy of topics, and an index, and a search.

In traditional online help, the author has probably used some type of compilation program such as RoboHelp.
The author has probably researched his or her topics and has probably consulted with a SME (subject matter expert) in writing the content.

The content is likely to meet at least some of the writing standards including clear, correct, testable, maintainable, etc. Also, there is likely to be a versioning system and a publishing process whereby only approved content is published along with the application or alongside the product.

In user-authored content, there is not likely to be any of these things.

Take Google Search for example. Comparing Google Search to the Search in Traditional Online Help:

1. both yield search results

2. online help can be a full-text search, or not

3. google search is searching a copy of the internet on whatever or

however they index it

4. online help search is finite

5. google search is seemingly endless

6. online help search can be linked to the content in the index and the

toc thereby creating a map

7. in google there is no toc or index

Let's compare user-authored content 'systems' such as a wiki to traditional online help.
Let's compare WikiPedia to Traditional Online Help.

1. is there a TOC in both?

well in wikipedia you first select a language and it tells you the number of articles available, that's something online

help does not have.

Perhaps in the wiki I use at work, it would be nice if the following features were present:

• number of articles available so I know how big the wiki has become
• date last changed
• by who
• reason
• number of people accessing
• content rating
• like/dislike

Anyway, none of this sounds like a research paper. Or a thesis. Just that I think traditional online help has its merits that user-authored content fails at.

User-authored content fails to measure up to traditional online help. Maybe that's my thesis.

Users may hate online help but it's clear, complete, accurate, consistent, testable, maintainable, and better than the alternative.

Online Tutoring

At least one research article found that students "preferred and performed better with human interaction instead of finding information on the Internet themselves." The human interaction included both face-to-face contact and contacting a tutor by electronic means including chat rooms, video camera, email, and text messaging. This shows me that at least students prefer getting help from another human being rather than "finding information on the Internet themselves."

Does this mean that using online help is the same as "finding information on the Internet themselves"?

EBSCOhost: Sociability and usability in online communities: determining and measuring ...#db=aph&AN=5820598

EBSCOhost: Sociability and usability in online communities: determining and measuring ...#db=aph&AN=5820598

Research Map 1

Would enabling an emotional component in online help bring traditional online help back from the brink?

Web 2.0 is an emotional world and users rely on each other rather than technical documentation for help with products and applications. The reason for this is another user is more likely to share empathy and to mirror or at least understand any emotions the user might have. Sites like Facebook, Trip Advisor and Amazon's product rating feature allow users to vent and to swap stories. Users are more likely to ask their friends how to use something rather than bother looking for the online help files published by the manufacturer.

Therefore, in order to bring traditional online help back from the brink, technical writers need to enable an emotional component.

Winter Puts on Her Lipstick

Early Fall in Nebraska is a fleeting friendship
Is it going to be nice out one more time, no more times?
I'm not going out there, it's just a trick.

There might be wind or rain or humidity
It could be hot or bitterly cold (in the same day)

There's probably something up in the air right now
It's deceptive - the changing leaves, the sunny skies, there's a quiet in the trees.

A quiet that is restless, that wants out, to open up and hurl its innards upon us.
It sits out there waiting, for a fall picnic, a football game, putting on its lipstick.

I don't trust it, this fleeting friendship - I know it's just a mask, a costume, a cover up.
Oh how I want to plan one more day of yardwork, a trip downtown, an outdoor shopping mall cornucopia.
But I don't dare because it is waiting
It wants to ruin our plans

A Nebraskan

more questions keep coming up - when a user posts something about a product...

When a user posts something about a product, are they really making an indirect inquiry with that company? And do they expect a response?

Communicating lean WITH CUSTOMERS

This article "presents the variety of options available for the mode of communication to customers, including oral communications as the popular mode, written communication, and physical communication."

Reason why this article is valuable to my research: Even though this article is about selling process improvement, it brings up several key points:
- "you cannot overlook the responsibility of accurate and timely communication with customers"
- customers believe the worst when they haven't heard anything back
- (so maybe when they don't hear anything back, they go to other users and complain, maybe the entire user community is made up of consumer emotion, maybe technical writers are really psychologists)
- communication "provides direction" including instruction and training
- "the inquiry aspect of communication includes determing the extent of customer knowledge, customer attitudes, customer beliefs and importance to the customer" "It also includes questions offered by your customer to you."
(Does this mean questions posted in blogs, forums, and social media outlets including Twitter? If so, we can refer to user-authored content as the inquiry aspect of communication?)
(When a user posts something about a product are they really making an indirect inquiry?)



Revelle, Jack B. 2010. "Communicating lean WITH CUSTOMERS." Industrial Engineer: IE 42, no. 8: 40-44. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 10, 2010).

Subject Terms:

*LEAN manufacturing
*PRODUCTION control
*COMMUNICATION in management
*MANUFACTURING processes
*CONSUMERS
*CONSUMER satisfaction
*ORAL communication
*CUSTOMER services
*MANAGEMENT
*AWARENESS
SERVICES for
SOCIAL aspects

 

Using User-Authored Content to make Better Products

In researching "Trends in Online Help" I found "Trends in Technical Communication" (Brandon, Magnuson, Hoeppner, Melsted, a 2000 STC Conference Proceeding presentation)

The authors claim that "the best products are created and developed when the user is involved in the project."

Perhaps technical writers should compile information from user-authored content to help engineers make products better. This sounds like an entirely different research project than the one I am after. I am researching how technical writers could manage user-authored content. But now I am thinking that user-authored content could be used to make products better.

"online help" Twitter Search

On October 10, 2010, I searched twitter for "online help". Here are some of the results relevant to my research on user-authored online help:

Note: Since tweets are public, I am posting the entire twitter message including the user's name:

 DylanReeve: Evaluating @GoogleApps at work, but unusual email setup makes it difficult - online help useless, and impossible to actually talk to anyone!

mpmselenic: Great new feature from the #Mercurial sprint: online help in hg serve (http://www.selenic.com/hg/help) (this tweet was re-tweeted several times)

 cruzDINERO: This is #twitter , nawt yhur online help center about 3 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®
(this one is interesting because one twitterer is telling another twitterer to stop using twitter as their online help center)

delicious50: Using default views in your module | Views online help http://bit.ly/a7McEV (this tweet refers to application online help)

AdriensBaba: tried hooking up netflix but it seems kinda squirley. can&apos;t get online help to work either
(this user tried the online help for netflix and THEN went on twitter to complain about it)

 ucdatalab: RT @Rarchive: For me, much easier 2 learn from worked examples; online help gives me list of obscure options. So, barely use R ... http://bit.ly/afgrhg

For me, much easier 2 learn from worked examples; online help gives me list of obscure options. So, barely use R in a Nutshell #rstats 4:24 PM Oct 9th via tweetout1.0
(this user is refering to learning from examples over the online help which gives a bunch of obscure options)
(but there is no reason why online help can't contain examples)

rcindia: Re: Got a damaged Tail Boom from Hk...Now what ??: hi chokxion hk website there is online help. ask the representa... http://bit.ly/96hWb0
(a user sent this posting from a forum to twitter - one of the responses to the posting was to visit the online help)

DebShadovitz: #Googlegroups & #gmail are so frustrating! Online help via headings & forums = hours. A waste of time. All I want is to request something!
(this is particularly relevant since we are using gmail and google groups for my graduate research studies course)

IndiansInParis: If you are in doubt about your written French, get reference and online help from French lexicon and grammar site. http://bit.ly/orthonet (this is a little bit of marketing)

The acceptance of blogs: using a customer experiential value perspective

Ching-Jui, Keng, and Ting Hui-Ying. 2009. "The acceptance of blogs: using a customer experiential value perspective." Internet Research 19, no. 5: 479-495. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 9, 2010).
Uses interesting search terms:

Subject Terms:

*BLOGS
*ELECTRONIC documents
*INTERPERSONAL communication
*SOCIAL ethics
*ONLINE information services
*INTERNET users
*MATHEMATICAL models
*EMPIRICAL research
*CONSUMERS

Why do I want to research this article?

Because "this paper aims to examine emotional experiences that internet users gain while reading blogs..."

If internet users are gaining emotional experiences while reading blogs then perhaps that is a motivator for seeking online help from a blog as opposed to the corporate documentation or company product manual.

If this is true and users are seeking out an emotional experience online, then there must be something unemotional about corporate and company product documentation. There must be something lacking in the way of personal experiences and emotional experiences.

How do we as technical writers incorporate emotional experiences into online help to draw in readers?

This paper's findings includes "empirical results demonstrates that: interpersonal interaction enhances browsers, aesthetic experiences as well as playfulness; machine interaction generates high aesthetics value which comprises visual and entertainment effects, service excellence, and CROI; perceived similarity by readers positively influences the four components of customer experiential value:..."

How do technical writers manage user-authored content in a read/write web environment?

On October 5, 2010, I posted the following Feed on my Yammer:

 

How do technical writers manage user-authored content in a read/write web environment? When a user posts content that is either outdated, in error, or in conflict with company values, should this be managed? If so, how?

 

EA (identity hidden): I think it's absolutely the case we need to manage it, in a respectful way. We owe it to those that would read our work to make sure that the content they rely on is accurate and consistent. That said, user-authored content is often a gift - of the author's time, energies, or knowledge, and we need to [sic] those contributions with gratitude. As a contributor, I'd like to be contacted and told that my efforts were appreciated and told either that my information is incorrect and pointed to the correct information, or that there might be a better way to phrase what I'd written.

 

Chief Architect

Should organizations keep a running dialogue with users who blog about their products?

I posted this to Yammer on October 5, 2010:

Should organizations keep a running dialogue with users who blog about their products?

OGH (identity hidden) replied: Absolutely. Isn't that the potential of tools like Twitter and Facebook?

My cousin posted a note to Facebook asking for technical help with her new android phone.

Chat Transcript with St. Bonaventure Univ. Librarian 5am Oct 5 2010

Chat Transcript
Other than in "technical communication" journals, where else might I find information about user-authored content?

5:16:29
Librarian 'St. Bonaventure Univ. Librarian Ann has joined the session.

Hello Tara

I'm Ann, a librarian in New York State

Your library and mine work together to staff this service

Hi Ann

When you say "user-authored," what type of item/software/etc. are these users using?

It could be software or hardware. For example, there are many unofficial user forums that talk about how to use the Palm Pixi smart phone. My theory is that users seek out help from each other before going to the official documentation.

That is interesting. Let me think about how we could approach this in a search! I'm thinking one way to approach this might be to take a look at how users groups function. I'll pull up a list of databases from your library, so we can try this theory out.

ME: Yes, that is someting I hadn't thought of - the discourse communities and how they function might be interesting to research.

Librarian: I see that your library has Academic Search Premier -- that might be a good database to use to start. This search string retrieved some articles that might be relevant: computer AND "user group"

ME: I think I'm looking for more about the psychological reasons why someone would trust another user over the corporate documentation.

Librarian: Okay that gives me some additional ideas for ways to search. We would look for information on whether users found corporation documentation, or online help provided by the vendor, difficult to use as well.

Try (DE "COMPUTER users") or (DE "COMPUTER users -- Attitudes"). Some of the articles here look interesting and this search string can be combined...

Me: Yes thank you - I found "User attitudes towards news content personalization" I tried "Psychology" + "Web 2.0" also.

Summary
This librarian provided me another search avenue - whether or not the users found online help provided by the vendor to be difficult to use. Maybe that's why they prefer user communities over "vendor" help. There must be some research that points to this - perhaps someone has conducted a study and found that users attitudes towards "vendor" help is that the "vendor" help is difficult to use.