Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Thing #16: Learning about wikis and discovering some innovative ways that libraries are using them

What is a Wiki? (From the Hawaiian word for "quick")
A wiki allows a group of people to collaboratively develop a Web site with no knowledge of HTML or other markup languages. Anyone can add to or edit pages in a wiki.
It seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes.

From: Leuf, Bo and Ward Cunningham. The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web
What did you find interesting?
Right now, OCLC is working on putting wiki functionality into Open WorldCat http://www.oclc.org/productworks/wcwiki.htm, so that people can add reviews to book entries. The results of this test case will give us some idea about the power of allowing users to annotate the catalog.
From: Using Wikis to Create Online Communities by Meredith Farkas.
What types of applications within libraries might work well with a wiki?

What about making the library’s website the online hub of the community? Libraries could create a community wiki that would be a one-stop-shop for community information.
Opening up a community guide to the public allows a wealth of information to flow in that can make the library’s website a true community resource.


If a group is working on a document, it can be edited in the wiki rather than having different versions of a word processing file going back and forth through email. It’s simply a better way of organizing the group’s efforts and keeping track of where everyone is in the process.

Wikis may be used to provide an open forum for tips on conference information in a distant city.

From: Using Wikis to Create Online Communities by Meredith Farkas

Other uses of wikis:

Conference planning
Collaborative editing of documents
Meetings (posting agendas, discussion prior to meeting, etc.)
Project space
In place of structured courseware
Presentation medium
Web-based notebook to organize your thoughts

From: Wikis: A Beginner’s Look: Harnessing the Collective Intelligence by Meredith Gorran Farkas

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