Welcome to Melcrum's Social Media Newsletter.

As part of its social media strategy, Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) created a wiki in 2003 for its network of communicators across North America.

The organization, which is responsible for the Canadian government’s research and development drive, has a diverse range of research faculties – from marine biology to aerospace – so the wiki ensures that these discrete and dispersed groups of communicators do not operate in isolation.

According to intranet manager, Lise Lafontaine, “The most common thing our network uses it for is to share knowledge, for example:
• ‘How do I prepare for this kind of event?’
• ‘Does anyone have any content for...?’, or
• ‘How do we deal with...?’

“It means we don’t duplicate effort – if I already have content prepared for something, everyone can find it, adapt it and use it. It also provides an easy forum for everyone to share advice and ideas – and then have that archived for others to learn from in the future.”

Wiki benefits
The benefits of using a wiki for this kind of initiative are manifold, says Lafontaine:

• Noise reduction: “It has certainly cut down on the volume of e-mails within the communication department, as people migrate the kind of content that ‘might be useful for everyone’ to the wiki instead,” says Lafontaine. “So now we’re not all copied in on e-mails that probably have no relevance to us. That can only be a good thing.”

• Training: When a new communicator joins the function, the wiki now serves as their first port of call for learning and development. “If they have a question, we ask that they go there to see if the question and its answer have already been posted up,” she says. “If they have, it’s a communal piece of work – so it’s probably a fuller, more thought-out and up-to-date answer than we could give that person off the top of our heads. If it’s not up there, we use that as an opportunity to put something together and put it on the wiki. That can be their first job!”

• Networking: For instance, researchers in life sciences and health research can use the “cross-departmental communication” section to be put in touch with communicators from relevant departments of the federal government (e.g., Health Canada or Fisheries and Oceans Canada), by posting their needs and requirements there. Lafontaine or a member of her team can then use their contact network to post details of the relevant person, and then that information is always there for other researchers, now or in the future, who need it.

• Best practice sharing: The “communication products and tools” section is for processes, tools and top tips, for everything from writing the annual report, to designing a poster, to sourcing images. Lafontaine says it’s still a work in progress and not to absolutely everyone’s liking – some still like their desktop folders. Nevertheless, she estimates that 40-60 percent of the communication department and web officers use it on an ongoing basis.

Best regards,

Alex Manchester
Editor
alex.manchester@melcrum.com

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