Question

what advantages and disadvantages mean?

Answer 1

Advantagesanyone can editeasy to use and learnWikis are instantaneous so there is no need to wait for a publisher to create a new edition or update informationpeople located in different parts of the world can work on the same documentthe wiki software keeps track of every edit made and it's a simple process to revert back to a previous version of an articlewidens access to the power of web publishing to non-technical usersthe wiki has no predetermined structure - consequently it is a flexible tool which can be used for a wide range of applicationsthere are a wide range of open source software wiki's to choose from so licensing costs shouldn't be a barrier to installing an institutional wiki

Disadvantages

Advantages in one context, may be disadvantages in another.

Anyone can edit so this may be too open for some applications, for example confidential documentation. However it is possible to regulate user access.Open to SPAM and Vandalism if not managed properly. There are easy ways to restore a page however, and on WikiEducator you must be logged in to edit pages so this reduces vandalism by automated spam bots.Requires Internet connectivity to collaborate, but technologies to produce print versions of articles are improvingThe flexibility of a wiki's structure can mean that information becomes disorganised. As a wiki grows, the community plans and administers the structure collaboratively.The usual guidelines for healthy computer use apply