Week 3: Wikis

Week of Feb 26th, 2007

• Introduction
• Presentations
• Technologies and Activities
• Readings
• Examples

Introduction

By the end of the week, you should

• have a general understanding of the way that wikis work
• be able to edit a wiki
• understand the pros and cons of different wiki platforms
• understand how libraries are using wikis with patrons and for internal knowledge-sharing
• have some ideas about best practices in implementing wikis, getting people to use them, and training them.

Presentations

Webcast - March 1, 2:00 pm Eastern: The Wonderful World of Wikis: Applications for Libraries - Chad Boeninger, Reference and Instruction Librarian, Ohio University and The "How" of Wikis - Starr Hoffman, Librarian for Digital Collections, Government Documents Department, University of North Texas Libraries

• Streaming audio, text chat, and presentation slides (only works in IE)
• Presentation Audio (MP3) or Presentation Audio (WMA)
• Chat Transcript
• Presentation Slides - Chad Boeninger
• Presentation Slides - Starr Hoffman

Screencast: Building Next Generation Library Web Sites Using PmWiki - Paul Lewis, Government Documents Librarian and Website Admin, University of South Carolina, Aiken and Brenda Chawner, Senior lecturer in the School of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington

Podcast: Building Next Generation Library Web Sites Using PmWiki: An Interview with Patrick Michaud. Brenda Chawner, John Rankin and Patrick Michaud (creator of PmWiki).

Click To Play

Screencast: Using Mediawiki Open-Source Software as Infrastructure for Electronic Resource Outreach - Robert H. McDonald, Chronopolis Project Manager, San Diego Supercomputer Center and Jonathan Blackburn, Technology Specialist, Florida State University

Screencast: Creating a Community for the Cultural Record: Using Social Software in Special Collections (streaming server - faster for those on slow connections | blip.tv file - you will need to click "Full-screen" and to watch) - Amelia Abreu, Archivist and History Subject Specialist, University of Houston Libraries.

Presenter chats

Chats take place in the main Drupal chatroom.

• Jon Blackburn and Robert H. McDonald: Wed Feb 28th, 6 pm ET (3 pm PST San Diego and 12 pm Thurs 1st for New Zealand)
• Brenda Chawner: Thursday, March 1st, 4pm ET (3pm CT, 1pm PT ...and 10am Fri 2nd for New Zealand)
• Paul Lewis: Thursday, March 1st, 4 pm ET
• Amelia Abreu: Friday, March 2, 3 PM ET

Technologies and Activities

These are the tools we will be using this week and any assigned activities.

Tools

• MediaWiki

Choose one of the following activities

1. Explore the Library Wikis listed below and write a blog post about the different ways you could use wikis in your library.
2. Examine the wiki tools listed below and write a blog post outlining which you would choose to implement for your library and why.

Readings

Please read these as your interests dictate, their availability, and as time allows. These are not strictly required, but will aid you in your understanding of the subject.

Freely available Readings

Chad Boeninger "A Wiki as a Research Guide" Library Voice

Meredith Farkas "Wiki World" an OPAL presentation
This is a presentation that provides and overview of wikis and their uses in libraries.

Meredith Farkas "Using Wikis to Create Online Communities" WebJunction

Shlomi Fish "Which Open Source Wiki Works For You?" ONLamp.com
This article discusses several different open source wikis and outlines the stengths and weaknesses of each.

Brian Lamb "Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not." Educause Review

Emma Tonkin "Making the Case for a Wiki" Ariadne

Not freely available readings

Aghtermain, Doug (2006) "Making Connections with Blogs and Wikis" CSLA Journal 30(1), 29-31.

Huffman, Karen (2006) "Web 2.0: Beyond the Concept: Practical Ways to Implement RSS, Podcasts, and Wikis" Education Libraries 29 (1), 12-19

Matthies, Brad; Helmke, Jonathan & Slater, Paul (2006) "Using a Wiki to Enhance Library Instruction" Indiana Libraries 25(3), 32-34.

Withers, Rob (2005) "Something wiki this way comes: An interactive way of posting, updating, and tracking changes in information used by library staff" College and Research Library News 66(11), 775-777.

Examples

Here are examples of libraries using the technologies and of some of the tools libraries are using to make this happen.

Libraries

Ohio University Libraries Biz Wiki (MediaWiki)
http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/index.php/Main_Page
Library research guide for business presented on a wiki

St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides (MediaWiki)
http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page
Research guides for various topics presented as a wiki

USC Aiken Gregg-Graniteville Library (PmWiki)
http://library.usca.edu/index.php/Main/HomePage
A library has built their Web site entirely with a wiki.

Library Instruction Wiki
http://instructionwiki.org/Main_Page
A space for collecting Web links, hand-outs, and success stories about providing information literacy instruction.

University of Houston Libraries Web Site Policies and Procedures
http://wikis.lib.uh.edu/wmcpp/index.php/Main_Page
Policies and Procedures for the UH Libraries website, collected and maintained as a wiki.

Book Lovers Wiki
http://booklovers.pbwiki.com/Princeton%20Public%20Library
developed by the Princeton Public Library

Library Success: A best practices wiki
http://libsuccess.org/

ALA Midwinter 2007 Seattle wiki
http://wikis.ala.org/midwinter2007/index.php/Main_Page
an example of a wiki created to support a specific event

The Bull Run Library wiki
http://bullrunlibrary.pbwiki.com/
a public library wiki

Tools

Hosted

• Wikia
• JotSpot
• SeedWiki
• PBWiki
• Wetpaint

Installed

• MediaWiki
• PMWiki
• Twiki