As for the DMS vs. Wiki argument, I think that they're too different and have different purposes to be mutually exclusive. Wiki is the Hawaiian word for "fast." And speed is the killer feature for a wiki (It's not collaboration; as Ted, and others, have pointed out, collaboration is achievable with documents in a DMS; but it's slow and cumbersome). Lawyers' documents (which reside in a DMS) are anything but fast. And they shouldn't be. Keep the briefs and merger agreements in the DMS and move the discussion about those documents (and many, many other things) to a wiki.

But in a firm that has developed a learning culture where people are allowed to ask questions and make mistakes as a means to learning, I think this is a terrific idea. It would allow associates to see how research could be approached. Especially if these same people don't have time for a regular face to face meeting to cover similar questions. Or, it could be used in conjunction with such a meeting.

Terrific idea.

One library or KM use of wikis in law firms that I think would be interesting to try is a research wiki for associates. A research wiki would

* Provide a place for associates to ask questions of each other in how to approach a new research question.

* Serve as a KM warehouse of research ideas

This type of wiki would also allow librarians to provide direction when needed and would serve as a way of building closer connections with associates who will become partners one day. A strategic move on the libraries part.

I am curious if anyone thinks this type of wiki would be used?

I thank Ted for taking the cynical view: taken as a whole, our comments on this post are building some substantive ideas on when and why one would use wikis in legal practice.

In my experience, the transition to a wiki style platform is much quicker with less resistance and more "success stories".

Document Management Systems are much more complex and involve a significant change in firm culture. Users tend to resist filling out document profile forms and the workflow that is embedded in a DMS. Due to their complexity Document Management Systems involve a significant amount of training as well and users only start to see real benefits 6 months to a year after implementation.

It is much easier to add and publish documents on a Wiki and users see the immediate benefits. Wikis look like existing intranets with additional features such as tagging, RSS notification, commenting and more robust searching. Lawyers have the choice of being passive users who just browse for information or they can be active participants and contributors to the wiki.

In the library context, I can anticipate staff throwing "reference challenges" in there – either to solicit help, or to share learning after the completion of a particularly complex request.

Wendy Reynolds
OWTL

Sometimes we need to get to the crux of an issue very fast, and need authoritative directions from people we trust. The DMS has the possibility to evolve in this direction, but will always be clumsy in my books. As Ted points out, DMS folders are mostly classified by work flow, and require an intervention (subject based workspaces) to classify by topic.

The future as I see it, is to have wikis & blogs as the front end to your DMS. Great pathfinders & topical guides available via the Wiki; and blogging when you need to tread new ground, get direction in a hurry, or require some authoritative guidance from busy colleagues.

Please don't forget, however, that the majority of lawyers are not in big law firms. Not all have DMSs or intranets or portals. A wiki platform for some, therefore, might be useful for projects where they don't want to implement a full document management, content management, or intranet system. Moreover, it could even serve as a lightweight solution for easily building a small intranet.

To be honest, I do not endorse the use of wikis in all law firms. I believe them to be merely one tool in the toolbox that may or may not work for a specific organization or group. I am mostly curious to see *if* and *how* they are being used, and helping people think about how they might use them as well. They probably do not fit in everywhere, but it is good to be informed about what they could do.

I also believe it is not necessarily the tool that you are using, but how you use it. If the system you have set up is working well and people are finding it works well for their collaborative needs, then you may not need wikis at all. Wikis may be *too* lightweight a solution since you have a sophisticated system that is being successfully used.

I think you are "misguided" on the use of wikis. I do not think they will replace client files and a document management system. The factory side of legal work relies on using the document management system as it assembly line.

But a DMS is generally lousy at highlighting the best content for reuse and wrapping context around the individual content.

Second, the research memo is static. The next person on the topic is going to copy it and update it. The third person in will have to distinguish between those first two and figure which is most relevant.

Third, the wiki should allow you to incorporate more sources by allowing you to easily hyperlink to other sources, such as primary law sources, other documents, other internal site and other external sites. This is hard and clumsy to do inside a word document.

Lastly, the big plus with a wiki is the flow of information; the magical RSS feed. As edits are made, subscribers are alerted to changes. That dramatically changes the interaction with content and the people that care about the content.