The Chief Surveyor-General presents: Wiki Style Documentation A striving for panoptic documentation

What is documentation?

• Define why we do things • Define how we do things • Define when we do things • Define where we do things • Define what we need to do to do things • Documents answer questions

What is documentation at an SG’s Office?

• SG is an animal of law • All documentation needs to thread back to law • It is a public document

Documentation at the SG • Act, Regulations, Ordinances • Manuals of procedure • Circulars • “Random Notes” • As well as random notes • Personal notes

Alternative forms of documentation • Spoken word • Individual notes • Formal notes • Digital documents (eg Word document) • Digital manuals (eg software help systems) • Web pages • Wiki

What is knowledge management?

• the

explicit systematic

and management of

vital knowledge

- and its associated

processes

of creation, organization, diffusion, use and exploitation - in pursuit of business objectives • "If only HP knew what it knows it would make three times more profit tomorrow" - Lew Platt, ex CEO Hewlett Packard

Why is knowledge management important • Increased content • Shorter development times • Facilitates innovation • Manage intellectual capital (eg retirees) • Increased networking • Holistic view of organisation • Help solve wicked problems • Specific, but not exclusive, to Rural Development: – High staff turn over – High cost of training

The wicked problem

What is a wiki • Wiki means “fast” in Hawaiian • Developed by an American, Ward Cunningham during 1994-1995 • Everybody knows Wikipedia or WikiLeaks?

• Website based • Anybody can create and edit • Any number of interlinked web pages • Via a web browser

Dokuwiki • Used for pilot study • Freeware • Written in PHP • Seemed simple enough to get setup • Aimed at documentation

The envisioned SG Wiki • In the beginning…

Start capturing the current documentation

Make atomic from the start

Let more senior staff use and add to or amend

Documentation team • Ratifies what has been amended • In consultation if necessary (as per previous example) • Informal discussions, ad hoc meetings to feed info to them – Eg PLS tea time discussions • A team per SG office • Instead of a team, maybe a librarian

Staff to start using Wiki • For example the diagram examination section

The envisioned SG Wiki • Start sharing… • Advertise to interested parties • The land surveyor • The conveyancer • The academics • Allow them to create and edit too

And those damn circulars?

• Introducing RSS feeds

A “New” Datastructure • How may this apply to GIS – GIS procedure – GIS operators notes – List of useful SQL statements – Etc • Something different – What about data presentation

Our GIS Currently

With some attributes

But what if we got this

List of pro’s (cons not yet considered) • Free-ish • Neat • Accessible • Easily added to other applications • Free • General skill level •

Collaboration