User:Jwalling

I gained an appreciation for the benefits of wikis in disaster communications by working on http://www.KatrinaHelp.info/ for the last several months.

I'm interested in ways to get people involved in the new wiki at http://ndars.wikia.com/ The target community are rescuers who helped saved thousands of animals stranded in recent hurricanes and tornadoes. Their main methods of communication are via forums, especially the new one at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDARS/ (Other forums are listed here http://ndars.wikia.com/wiki/Forums )

The forums are valuable tools for sharing information that needs immediate action and response. However, a lot of information is recycled redundantly or is lost to those who need it. A wiki can capture the forum information for future use and for introducing new participants to the evolving network of people and resources needed for effective response to new disasters.

I made a few attempts to get forum users involved in developing the wiki but they have not followed through. Somehow the wiki is not meeting their needs, either psychologically or functionally. I don't want to beat them over the heads with wiki hype.

Perhaps The Wealth of Networks will give me the insights I need to make the wiki relevant to forum denizens.