Wikis Or, how I learned to stop worrying and trust the Internet Phoebe Ayers – UC Davis

Overview: A little history What? Why? How?  Examples Questions and brainstorming  What can you imagine using wikis for? Now? Later?

Social definition: A wiki is a tool for collaboration, information sharing and knowledge/content management

Technical definition: A “wiki” is a type of software to run a website that anyone can edit

“Wiki”: Hawaiian for “any idiot can edit”

A little history No, there will not be a quiz later

In the beginning: In 1995, Ward Cunningham invented a type of website software That allowed anyone to modify the site’s content So this “WikiWikiWeb” could grow naturally and efficiently Ward gave this software a catchy name …That I hear actually does have something to do with Hawaiian buses

In Which The Wiki Takes Off! The wiki was invented “In order to make the exchange of ideas between programmers easier”* … but was soon discovered as a way to easily share content as well as ideas Different wiki engines were written… [UseMod, PhpWiki, MoinMoin, Twiki] And communities began to grow *

We’ll get back to this “In the late 1990s, wikis were increasingly recognized as a promising way to develop private- and public-knowledge bases, and this potential inspired the founders of the Nupedia encyclopedia project, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, to use wiki technology as a basis for an electronic encyclopedia: Wikipedia was launched in January 2001” *

Today: Dozens of wiki engines & wiki companies on the market, including: “Enterprise wikis” – software for company intranets  (Socialtext, Confluence) Free wiki hosting services –  Jotspot, Wikia, Wetpaint Or, download & install your own:  Mediawiki, PhpWiki, Kwiki, etc. etc. And dozens of communities….  Including Wikipedia – famous and enormous

A recap: A Wiki is a type of website that allows users to easily edit and change some available content Two parts:  “wiki engine” (software)  users – edit content and develop the wiki community “Wiki” or “the wiki” often generically refers to both Wikipedia is just one example, running on one type of wiki software (Mediawiki) *

Wiki features

How does it work? A wiki page starts more or less empty Wiki pages are connected by internal hyperlinks Every page should be connected No ownership of wiki content – anyone can work on any piece

6 magic features: Most wikis have:  Edit this page - open editing of pages (sometimes with permission layers)  Distinct syntax – simple, non-html  Discussion – comment on a page or the site  Versioning or “diffs” – you can see every change that’s been made to a page  Recent changes - can (usually) see all changes made to the site  Revert – can always change a page back to what it was before

Edit this page!

What do you mean, “edit”? All you need is a computer, internet access and a web browser special markup language : [[this is an internal link]] [ this is an external link] ’’italics’’ or ’’’bold’’’ ==Headline 1== ===Headline 2=== *Bulleted list #Numbered list (item 1) #Numbered list (item 2) ~~~~ - to sign and date your comments

As opposed to the HTML we know ( and don’t love): this is an external link italic text bold text headline list element 1 Not to mention CSS body { background: #fff; Etc.

MediaWiki: ==S.R. Ranganathan== The ’’’Five Laws of Library Science’’’ are as follows: # Books are for use. # Every reader has his or her book. # Every book has its reader. # Save the time of the reader. # The library is a growing organism. * See also: [[Library]], [ The ALA] HTML: S.R. Ranganathan The Five Laws of Library Science are as follows: Wikis are for use Every reader has his or her Wiki Every Wiki has its reader Save the time of the reader The Wiki is a growing organism See also: Library, The ALA

Either way: S.R. Ranganathan The Five Laws of Library Science are as follows: 1. Books are for use. 2. Every reader has his or her book. 3. Every book has its reader. 4. Save the time of the reader. 5. The library is a growing organism. See also: Library, The ALA

Page history

IP address of “anonymous edit” Edit summary How to read a Wikipedia (MediaWiki) article history Minor edit Links to user page, user talk page, and user contribution history Date and time of edit Reversion of most recent edits to old version (poss. vandalism) Compare to current version of article Or most recent preceding version Click to compare two versions

The magic “diff”

Recent changes

Revert this page

Example wikis

Wikipedia (in a nutshell)

What is it? “The free encyclopedia” But also: Related to wiki-dictionaries, textbooks and citizen journalism A place to find open-source media A reference desk A huge community One of the world’s most popular websites A site with a mission

Wikipedia basics GNU/GFDL licensed content: free as in beer and free as in speech Open to all and editable by anyone Edit anonymously or with an account Funded mostly (>80%) by individual donations  Small budget and 4 paid employees

Why is Wikipedia special? Multilingualism/multiculturalism People are using it Astonishing size It’s remarkably good Fundamental change to information production, dissemination, and authority: You’ve never seen anything like this before, ever

Wikis in Libraries

Wikis in libraries Tool for the public:  subject guides, more Staff intranets:  Reference sites  Documentation, committee work, travel reports Conferences:  Participants  planners Community documentation:  Library best practices

Why use a wiki? Fast Easy Fun Findable & searchable online Can easily collaborate with all users Best tool for the job….?

Our motto: "WWW" (When Wondering? Wiki)

How?

How? Technically: Hosting service (free or pay) vs installing your own wiki on your webserver Other Criteria: Ease of use Customization Cost More: It Yourself

What you’ll need: What you’ll need to install your own: Webserver access Mediawiki install: need Apache, MySQL, PHP (and access to your MySQL db) Other packages: varies  E.g., Kwiki: Apache & Perl

How? Socially: Why does Wikipedia (or any wiki) work?  A large, enthusiastic, and unconstrained user base  Users write and determine policy as well as content on Wikipedia  This may depend on situation  Users must be: Minimally trained Motivated Encouraged

What you’ll need: Make the wiki inviting – pre-populate some pages Provide training Make it fun and rewarding to edit Allow people to discover collaborative writing Assume good faith

Remember: You can’t break it You can always go back Security levels can be set and tweaked Many people contributing a small amount can get a lot done

Various configurations:

resources

Resources (see handout) Comparing wiki Software: Choosing and installing a wiki in a library setting LIS753: A wiki about wikis (lots of helpful resources): List of examples: More, from the Virtual Reference SIG wiki: Presentation by Meredith Farkas:

“wiki wednesdays” And online communication: blogs, forums, IRC, wiki help pages… and meetups

Questions!? And thoughts…

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