Friday, November 2, 2007

Thoughts on Wikis

I've been using wikis for a several years now. I discovered Wikipedia one day while searching for something on Google, and have used it regularly from then on, to get general information about a wide range of topics. At the time I discovered it, I didn't know anything about wikis, so I didn't realize it's potential or its pitfalls. As I used it, I saw that some articles were very complete, while others were minimal. However, I've never come across any incorrect facts (that I know of!), and I think the benefits greatly outweigh the drawbacks. I love Wikipedia!

A couple of years ago, we started a wiki for the Law Library. It never got much publicity, and it didn't really catch on. I think I'm one of the few staff members who uses it. It has direct competition from our intranet, where we put our procedures documents, our list of database and workstation passwords, etc.

A successful local wiki that I've worked with was the one that was created for the libraries to use during preparations for the SACS accreditation visit. We put our responses to questions about the libraries on the wiki, so all committee members were able to add, delete and edit responses. So much better than having one person edit and distribute the latest version of every questions every time there was a change!

I took a look at the wikis that were listed in the TLC discovery exercise, and found them to be good examples of the range of purposes to which librarians can put the wiki. Subject guides can be updated quickly and easily. Readers advisory and book review wikis are great ways for librarians and library users to share opinions, and we as librarians can learn a lot from library users through their postings.

I've seen the Library Success wiki before. It's more like Wikipedia in apprearance and intent: a great one-stop resource for all things library.

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