Poster

Production process modeling in mediawiki

Christopher McConnell

Wikis have gained attention and adoption as knowledge management tools. In most cases, the software is used for informal knowledge-sharing, but wikis can also be used to formalize workflows, to ensure that the appropriate stakeholders see the appropriate information during a production process.

This poster will discuss how Information Architecture principles such as controlled vocabularies and labeling were used to transform a MediaWiki installation into the primary production-tracking tool at an educational media firm. Although the software lacks formal business-process-modeling tools, it is now in use to track the status of over 600 animated and video pieces through a twenty-seven-step media production process. Although MediaWiki was hardly designed as a tool for modeling production processes , application of Information Architecture principles to its features has made it an invaluable tool for internal employees and external contractors.