A wiki BarnRaising is a planned event in which a community meets at a designated time to build content on the wiki together. One person alone can’t build all the content in a wiki, and a community of people needs to understand how to use the wiki, and feel a sense of buy-in for it to become successful. A BarnRaising achieves this because people come expecting to learn how to use the wiki, and they are able to interact with each other as they work, thus strengthening community bonds and creating a support network that keeps people using the wiki.

Usage

BarnRaising is a great way to jumpstart a wiki. It gets people used to using the wiki, and gets a critical mass of content on it so people keep coming back. Since everyone is working on it at the same time, it establishes a support network that’s essential to building peoples’ confidence and breaking down misconceptions they may have about the wiki.

Examples

If you’re starting a new wiki for your team or workgroup, arrange a time when everyone can meet to work on the site. Provide lunch or snacks to keep people energised!

It’s a good idea to meet briefly before or at the beginning of the BarnRaising to plan what content will go on the wiki, establish a basic organization system (this can be as simple as making sure links to all pages appear in an organised list on the home page), and agree on general standards for the wiki.

Further Reading

• Bottom up, top down, side to side and round and round!
• Enterprise Wiki Increases Collaboration and Connections at Janssen-Cilag