Wiki: The Ultimate Tool For Online Collaboration Meredith Farkas November 15, 2006 Michigan Library Consortium

What you will learn  What a wiki is  What wikis are good for, what they’re not so good for  How libraries are successfully using wikis  Tips on developing a successful wiki

What is a wiki?  Allows people to collaboratively develop a Web site without any tech-savvy (no HTML required!)  Like a content management system  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

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

Discussion area for each page

All changes made to the page

List of changes made to all pages

Wiki Syntax  Ways to format text, change color, create links, create tables, etc.  Not difficult to learn, but different  Example: ALA New Orleans WikiALA New Orleans Wiki  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  Findability  Many free and open-source wikis  Flexible and extensible

Why not wiki?  Too open (trust issues)  Concerns about ownership of content  Disorganized  Vandalism and spam

Wikis in Practice

How libraries can use wikis with their patrons  Community wiki  Subject guide wiki  Wiki as courseware  Wiki as Web site

Community wiki

Subject guide wiki

Wiki as courseware

Wiki as Web site

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

Staff Intranet

Collaborative document editing

Collaboratively-developed manual antioch_university_new_england_library_staff_training_and_support_wiki/

Guidebook

Knowledgebase

Planning space for conferences

Wiki Tips How to develop and maintain a successful wiki

Wiki Tips: Software  Do you want your wiki hosted? Wiki Farms Easier if you don’t have a server or don’t know what you’re doing Examples: PBWiki, WetPaint, WikiSpacesPBWikiWetPaintWikiSpaces  Do you want to install the software on your own server? More software options this way More control Maintenance burden is on you Examples: MediaWiki, PmWiki, TwikiMediaWikiPmWikiTwiki

Things to consider  Programming language  Ease of installation  Security Permissioning Spam prevention  Ease of use  Cost

Things to consider (cont’d)  Syntax  Version control  Ability to hold discussions  RSS  Ability to change look For help choosing software, check out the Wiki Matrix (

Wiki management  Seeding the wiki  Documentation  Policies  Marketing  Dealing with spam

Questions? Just ask! me: AIM me: librarianmer Visit my site: meredith.wolfwater.commeredith.wolfwater.com