Wikis Basics, Tools and Strategies Meredith Farkas April 15, 2007 Computers in Libraries

What you will learn  What a wiki is  What wikis are good for, what they’re not so good for  How libraries and other groups are successfully using wikis  How to get started with wikis  Tips on developing a successful wiki

Who am I? Meredith Farkas Distance Learning Librarian at Norwich University (VT). Author - Social Software in Libraries.Social Software in Libraries Columnist – “Technology in Practice” column in American Libraries. Blogger - Information Wants to be Free and TechEssence.Information Wants to be FreeTechEssence Wiki manager - Library Success, ALA 2005 and 2006, etc.Library SuccessALA

My experience with wikis  Looking for a way to collect knowledge for ALA Annual  A Website would only collect my knowledge  ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki  Amazing community formed around the wiki!

Library Success Wiki  Where does a new librarian go to get ideas and learn from other people's successes?  Library Success Wiki: Designed to collect best practices, good ideas, useful articles and links, etc.  Site has developed a diverse community of individuals who add content in their areas of interest.

Other wikis I’ve created  ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki  CIL 2006 Wiki CIL 2006 Wiki  IL 2006 Wiki IL 2006 Wiki  KM World 2006 Wiki KM World 2006 Wiki  Buying and Selling eContent Wiki Buying and Selling eContent Wiki  CIL 2007 Wiki CIL 2007 Wiki  Many other personal wikis for planning, internal wiki at work, etc.

What is a wiki?  Content management system  Allows people to collaboratively develop a Web site without any tech-savvy  Wiki = quick (in Hawaiian)  All community members can add to or edit the work of others

Wiki background  Ward Cunningham and the Portland Pattern Repository  Wikipedia  Conference wikis, fan wikis, wiki knowledgebases  Wikis in the library! Still often controlled access.  Organizations jump on the wiki bandwagon

Wiki Structure  All wikis start off as a single blank page  Pages are created and connected by hyperlinks  No ownership of pages; anyone can change the work of others

Wiki Components  Pages community members can add to or edit (example)example  Discussion area for each page  List of all of the changes made to a particular page (version control)  List of all changes made to all pages.

Wiki Syntax  Ways to format text, change color, create links, create tables, etc.  Wikipedia editor’s guide Wikipedia editor’s guide  Not difficult to learn, but different  Differences for each wiki  WYSIWYG is the future

Wikis vs. Blogs  No one owns content  No specific organization (hyperlinks)  Anyone can edit other people’s work  A person owns their post  Organized in reverse chron. order  Only author can edit their own work (others can comment)

Wikis vs. Blogs  Perpetual work in progress  Good for collaborative group work  Posts are permanent  Good for disseminating info/starting a dialogue

Why wiki?  Easy to use  Web-based  Anyone can make changes  Version control  Findability (with database wikis)  Many free and open-source wikis  Flexible and extensible

Knowledge management (KM)  All organizations want to make the best use of organizational knowledge  Most are really bad at it  Wiki is a great KM tool

Wiki = quick  No editing in Dreamweaver, no FTP-ing into the server.  No waiting for the Webmaster to update your page.  Different people can be responsible for different content areas

Collaboration  Wikis are a great way to get patrons/colleagues to participate in building a Web space Resource guides Conference Book reviews Area guides  You can learn a lot from your patrons and colleagues!

Why not wiki?  Too open (trust issues)  Concerns about ownership of content  Disorganized  Vandalism and spam Wikis aren't for everyone. If control is a major issue with the site you're developing, then a wiki may not be right for your project.

Questions?

Wikis in Practice

How libraries can use wikis with their patrons  Community wiki  Subject guide wiki  Wiki as courseware  Wiki as Web site  Wiki for capitalizing on the collective intelligence

Community wikis  RocWiki (Rochester, NY) RocWiki  Davis Wiki (Davis, CA) Davis Wiki  Arbor Wiki (Ann Arbor, MI) Arbor Wiki  PGHWiki (Pittsburgh, PA) PGHWiki

Wikis that build community  ICANN Wiki ICANN Wiki  Tax Almanac Tax Almanac  Mandriva Club Mandriva Club

Subject guides  Ohio University Library’s Biz WikiBiz Wiki  St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides

Wiki as Website and courseware  University of South Carolina Aiken Library Web site University of South Carolina Aiken Library Web site  Bull Run Library Bull Run Library  Bemidji State University eRhetoric course wikieRhetoric course wiki

Capitalizing on the collective intelligence  Resource guides and book reviews ProductWiki wikiXbox360 Princeton Public Library’s Book Lovers WikiBook Lovers Wiki Wyoming Authors Wiki

How librarians can use wikis  Staff Intranet  Collaborative document editing  Collaboratively-developed manual  Conference wikis  Knowledgebase  Planning space for conferences

Wiki as Intranet for info sharing  Most are behind the firewall or are password protected  SUNY Stonybrook Health Science Library Wiki SUNY Stonybrook Health Science Library Wiki  University of Connecticut Library University of Connecticut Library

Collaborative document editing  ZohoWriter ZohoWriter  Google Docs and Spreadsheets Google Docs and Spreadsheets  You could even just use something like PBWiki!PBWiki

Collaboratively-developed manual  Print manuals are really hard to update!  Antioch University New England Library Staff Training and Support Wiki Antioch University New England Library Staff Training and Support Wiki

Conference wikis  ALA 2005 Chicago Wiki ALA 2005 Chicago Wiki  ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki  IL 2006 Wiki IL 2006 Wiki  Wikimania 2006 Wikimania 2006

Wiki as professional knowledgebase  Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki  Library Instruction Wiki Library Instruction Wiki  Qwiki: Quantum Physics Wiki Qwiki: Quantum Physics Wiki  The New PR Wiki The New PR Wiki

Planning space for conferences  Hard to plan a conference with people from all over the place.  Five Weeks to a Social Library Five Weeks to a Social Library  BarCamp BarCamp  PodCon PodCon

Wiki Tips How to develop and maintain a successful wiki

Wiki Tips: Software  Popular options for wiki hosted on your server MediaWiki PmWiki Twiki MoinMoin XWiki Confluence ($$$) Confluence

Wiki Tips: Software (cont’d)  Popular Options for wikis hosted by the software company PBWiki WetPaint SeedWiki  If you want control, no ads, etc., host the wiki on your server.  If you don’t have server space, need the wiki for a small time-limited project, or are scared of maintaining a new tech, go with a hosted wiki.  Check out the WikiMatrix when thinking about which software to useWikiMatrix

Choosing software: What to consider  Programming language  Ease of installation  Security  Permissioning  Spam prevention  Ease of use  Cost  Version control

What to consider (cont’d)  Syntax  Ability to hold discussions  RSS  Ability to change look  Extensions  Trajectory of development/support of development

Wiki Tips: Seeding the wiki  No one wants to add to an empty wiki  Also, people often don’t know what to add  Add some content to the major categories before going live  Creating an organizational scheme will prevent orphan links and chaos

Wiki Tips: Documentation  Wikis need lots of info for novice users What is a wiki What can you do with this wiki How to edit the wiki FAQ Whom to contact for more help  Prepare for lots of questions!  Wikipedia has lots of good documentation for MediaWiki users

Wiki Tips: Content development  Do lots of marketing  If possible, offer trainings  Partner with groups/people related to your mission  Don’t do it all yourself!  Give the wiki a grassroots feel, make it welcoming.

Wiki Tips: Management  Security Should you require registration?  Dealing with spam Install spam-killing plugins or blacklists  Bad Behavior plugin. Bad Behavior  Monitor the wiki several times a day  Get to know and love RSS  Find lots of dedicated helpers!!!

How to deal with posts you don’t like  Guidelines Limit to on-topic posts Take a note from the Wikipedia’s policies and guidelinesWikipedia’s policies and guidelines  Get a committed group of volunteers to patrol a public wiki  If you need to delete something - use discussion area to explain why things were deleted.

Questions? Comments? Meredith Farkas mgfarkas at gmail dot com AIM: librarianmer Links and more resources at