LIBR 246-12: Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools (Fall 2008)

October 6 - 12, 2008

• Learning Objectives
• Lecture
• Readings
• Examples
• Things to Do
  

Learning Objectives

By the end of the week, you should:

1. Understand wikis: their history and uses.
2. Know how to contribute to and edit a wiki.
3. Identify ways that wikis can be used in libraries.
4. Identify best practices in developing wikis for libraries.

 

Lecture

Quicktime Movie (30 minutes)

Slides (PDF)

Transcript (PDF)

 

Readings

Required
Farkas, Chapter 5
Lally, A. M. and Dunford, C. E. (2007, May/June). “Using Wikipedia to Extend Digital Collections.”
D-Lib Magazine, 13.
Cashel, J. (2007). “When to Use a Wiki.” Online Community Report.
Edwards, P. (2007). “How does your wiki grow?” Think Much.

Bryant, S. L. et al. (2005). "Becoming Wikipedian: transformation of participation in a collaborative online encyclopedia." Proceedings of the 2005 international ACM SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work. (You can skim this one)
Albrycht, E. (2007). “Thinking About Wikis.” New Communications Review.
Dembo, S. (2007). “Why Don't We Wiki Well?” Teach42.
Suarez, L. (2007). “When Wikis Won't Work: 10 questions to ask before full adoption.” elusa.
Wikipatterns. This is basically a best and worst practices site for wiki adoption. Check out all of the patterns and anti-patterns.

Optional
Common Craft. “Wikis in Plain English.” (Video)

Oatman, E. (2005, November 1). “Make Way for Wikis.” School Library Journal.

 

Examples

Excellent (Mostly) Non-Library Wikis
Check out some of the wikis on the 33 Wikis list that highlights some of the best wikis on the web.
Holocaust Wiki Project
Davis Wiki
RocWiki

Library Wikis
Ohio University’s Biz Wiki
University of South Carolina Aiken Gregg-Graniteville Library
Plymouth Regional High School Library Wiki
Durham County Library Strategic Plan wiki
Antioch New England Graduate School's Library Training Wiki
Stevens County Rural Library District Wiki Project
Alaska Association of School Librarians
ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki
Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
Library Instruction Wiki

Wiki-esque Web-Based Wordprocessing Tools
Google Docs and Spreadsheets
Zoho Writer

Getting Help from the Hive
Ask MetaFilter
Yedda
Yahoo! Answers

Things to Do

1. Play with all of the examples listed above.
2. Complete Exercise 5, due October 11.

3. Write at least one blog post on one (or more) of the following topics (due October 11):

1. Why do you think so few libraries are allowing patrons to add to library wikis?

2. Which of the library wiki examples did you consider most effective (you can pick more than one) and why?

3. From your perspective as a soon-to-be-degreed librarian, what do you think of tools like Ask Metafilter and Yahoo! Answers?

4. Write your own reflections on what you learned this week.

4. Write a blog post that includes a brief description of an article, technology, blog post, or other interesting resource outside of the classwork you've found that's related to that week's topic. Be sure to include a link to the resource (due October 11).

5. Comment on at least two other people's blog posts (due October 13).

6. Social Software Dynamics Paper topic must be submitted to me by October 11 for approval.