Thing 17: Library wikis

Here is the comment I added to the SI sandbox:
No one person, or group of persons, can be an expert on every subject. I suppose that the standard printed dictionary of years ago was written by a set of scholars and researchers, but wouldn't they have benefited greatly from the knowledge and ideas of a larger group of people? Although I use Wikipedia with a somewhat jaundiced eye, the scope and expertise embodied in it is remarkable and it does have its place. I see wikis being useful in the library setting as a way to track key resources in popular or hard-to-find topic areas and to supplement vendor documentation on how to use library software.

There is a fascinating article about Ward Cunningham, father of the wiki, on eWeek.com. He said in March 2006 that "the power of collaborative development has only just begun to be realized, and open-source software will continue to spur more collaboration and more innovation." Interestingly, he used to work in an open-source group at Microsoft.

It seems to me that libraries are organizations very suited to be communities of practice. This concept is used in business, so why not in libraries where we have a common interest in providing exemplary service to customers and can benefit greatly by collaborating, sharing ideas, finding solutions, and building innovations. By looking for ways to share the knowledge of group members, we would encourage participation, create a shared identity, and transfer knowledge to all members.

The wiki search site at http://www.wiki.com/ was helpful in locating library-related wikis. Especially interesting was the Library Website Hall of Fame but this is where I turn cynical -- did these libraries add themselves?

Thing 16: Wikis

Thank goodness the days of index cards and printed lists for pathfinders and key resources are gone. Wikis are even more versatile than bookmarking sites like de.lici.ous for tracking not only web sites, but also print materials and media on specific topics. Bookmarking sites are restricted by having to link to other sites on the web, whereas any type of information can be entered into a wiki. Staff who specialize in reference/non-fiction, local history, fiction, young adult, and children's areas can create their own pages of frequently asked questions and subjects for which it is difficult to find resources. How handy this would be for homework alerts, African-American month, Hispanic month, science projects, and other topics that come up year after year. New staff can benefit from research performed by existing staff, and anyone can add on as they encounter valuable new resources.

Another good use would be for software documentation. Over the years we've gotten away from printed manuals on how to use our library software. As staff discover shortcuts or best practices on how to perform a function, it would be extremely valuable to document the information in a wiki where it is searchable/easy to locate and available for anyone to improve upon.

I was struck by the concept of creating a wiki as a web-based notebook to organize thoughts. When I'm working on a large project, I tend to organize by creating lists and assigning completion dates to each task. For something smaller, I simply start with a document or email. The advantage of using a wiki is that changes and additions are made easily and the information can be shared with other participants in the project.