Ever wonder how Wikis work? How can they serve libraries? Library
Technology Reports “Wikis” Part 1: Wikis
& Libraries, July –August 2006. Wikis addresses these questions and more. I
found it to be a good article to read if
you have never created a wiki or participated in adding or editing wikis. In
truth, I always wondered how I could be able to add or edit one. Through this course, and after reading this
article I have learned that there are many reasons to engage in creating or
being part of the collaborative team that works in creating and maintaining a
wiki page. The word Wiki comes from “Quick”
in Hawaiian. The meaning of Wiki for the web interface is more about how easy
you access and collaborate with it online. The article makes a case for Wiki on
how it can benefit librarians. It offers librarian’s different scenarios to
consider for its use.
The article provides sites where you can start a wiki within
minutes. You can also consider an open
source option for installing the software into your library server (of course,
please get approval from your administration since there may be someone in
staff responsible like a webpage manager). I liked the many options for the use
of a wiki presented in this article and as a future librarian they seemed
useful. For example: a library may want to consider listing resources available
at their library; consider also using a wiki as a subject guide that can be
used by both librarians and patrons, they can also use it to provide an
overview about the library programs and services and even about the library’s
history.
In my view the best idea is as a training resource, librarians could
work together collaboratively to create a research best practice outline or share with other librarians their many resources on the wiki . So, there are many possible uses for a wiki. Many University libraries and schools are considering using wikis as teaching resource site, they have links to their course curriculum, is also a great site for students to create their academic portfolio and in this same way University libraries are using MediaWiki as there preferred wiki webpage to provide students with links to articles, materials and other source information of importance for students.
Several important points mentioned to consider before
creating a wiki were:
·
Have specific goals and objectives to achieve
with the wiki
·
Ask the question “what is the goal of this wiki?
·
Who will be collaborating in this wiki?
·
Appoint a wiki monitor
One last best practice advice mentioned is to be proactive
with monitoring the changes made to your wiki. Now, what are you waiting for be
proactive and start one! I know I will.
