Saturday, September 29, 2007

Thing #16 - Wikis

I have been waiting to find out about wikis ever since they were mentioned at the Technology Fair. At that time I knew about Wikipedia because it comes up so frequently in search results, but I didn't see how that fit in with what was being said about wikis. After exploring the various discovery resources I now understand that a wiki is a "quick-to-build, easy-to-edit website on which all information can be edited, changed, or rewritten by users or members of the site" (quoting from Wiki, wiki, wiki). I'm not so sure about the "easy" to build part, but I won't worry about that because I doubt that I ever start a wiki. Also, it seems to me that the original idea of anyone adding or changing content has been modified in many cases. Almost all of the wikis I looked at required a password to do any editing. I'm sure that that came about because some people were doing inappropriate things!
I can see many ways in which libraries could use wikis. Librarians and patrons alike could work together to develop subject guides to websites, add annotations to the library catalog, and turn the library website into a community wiki. Librarians themselves could use wikis to collaborate on group projects, share conference information , and exchange ideas about library policies and practices. The possibilities are endless.

No comments: