Using a wiki for reference services: principles, technologies, and challenges Peter Blake & John Eliot – McAuley, Brisbane Presented by Kate Bunker – Signadou, Canberra

Outline What are wikis and how do they work? Advantages and disadvantages How can librarians best use wikis? ACU’s wiki – Brisbane campus library Setting up your own wiki

What is a wiki? “The simplest online database that could possibly work” (Ward Cunningham, in Leuf & Cunningham, 2002) Collaborative information management One-click editing of (almost) any page Community-based to provide “safety in numbers”

Notable wikis: Wikipedia

Notable wikis: Hurricane Katrina help

How does a wiki work? Powered by a set of scripts (the “engine”) which serve pages and manage access A page is marked with a “broken” link A “stub” is created The stub is expanded into a full page The pages are edited, revised and divided as required

Advantages of a wiki Low-cost Currency Collaboration Consensus?

Disadvantages of a wiki Vandalism Edit wars Lack of confidence in material Anarchy / anti-intellectualism Another syntax to learn

Where do wikis “fit”? Abstracting away from HTML and static pages A rough and ready technology Another tool for the toolbox Community bases of programmers mean rapid development and feature addition

How can we best use wikis? For ourselves  Collaborative writing  Knowledge base  Discussion aiming for consensus With our users  Giving advice  Receiving suggestions  Users helping users

Librarians using wikis: LISWiki

Librarians using wikis: Library Success

ACU’s wiki: RefDeskEManual Conversion of existing print manual Initially for one campus only (Brisbane) and for library staff only Uses DominoWiki running on a Lotus Notes server

Demonstration of ACU Brisbane wiki /RefDeskeManual /RefDeskeManual

Benefits and challenges Benefits Less unwieldy Improved currency Lower entrance barrier Easier to use Less post-it notes? Challenges Too much structure Too little structure Linking vs. reproducing material

Next steps at ACU Training and “load testing” phase Adaptation and extension to other campuses Integration with Learning Edge LCMS

Setting up a wiki Define your goal and your community (not audience) Know your limits  server hardware  supported languages  budget Decide on content and scope Select the features required for your wiki

Wiki engine features Images and attachments Tables Syntax Subpages Permissions and page locking Versioning RSS feeds

Setting up a wiki, continued Choose your engine Install and configure the engine Build a minimal structure that reflects both your subject and scope Invite your community to participate Continue to contribute and edit

Summary Wikis: are simply-structured online databases are good for rapidly changing information can be set up easily and cheaply cannot function without a community

Final thoughts Experiment with, and contribute to, a wiki Consider how wikis can work for you The Wiki Prayer: “Please, grant me the serenity to accept the pages I cannot edit, the courage to edit the pages I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” (quoted in Lamb, 2004)

Bibliography Clyde, L. A. (2005). Wikis. Teacher Librarian, 32(4), Colgan, C. (2005). My wiki, wiki ways. National Journal, 37(27), Corcoran, E. (2005). The answer man. Forbes, 176(4), 122. Delio, M. (2005). The enterprise blogosphere. InfoWorld, 27(13), Edit war. (2005, August 16). Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia Retrieved September 8, 2005, from

Bibliography, continued Farkas, M. (2005, July 5). ALA Wiki: what I learned and what I'm doing with it. Retrieved September 6, 2005, from 54 Frumkin, J. (2005). The Wiki and the digital library. OCLC Systems & Services, 21(1), Goldsborough, R. (2005). An encyclopedia of the people, by the people and for the people. Community College Week, 17(23), 30. Gorman, G. E. (2005). Is the wiki concept really so wonderful? Online Information Review, 29(3), Jones, P. (2005). Strategies and technologies of sharing in contributor-run archives. Library Trends, 53(4),

Bibliography, continued Lamb, B. (2004). Wide open spaces: wikis, ready or not. EDUCAUSE Review, 39(5), Leuf, B., & Cunningham, W. (2001). The Wiki way: collaboration and sharing on the Internet. Boston, Mass.: Addison-Wesley Professional. Leuf, B., & Cunningham, W. (2002, June 27). What is Wiki. Retrieved September 7, 2005, from Lipczynska, S. (2005). Power to the people: the case for Wikipedia. Reference Reviews, 19(2), 6-7. McHenry, R. (2004, November 15). The faith-based encyclopedia. Retrieved September 8, 2005, from

Bibliography, continued Pomerantz, J. (2005, April 13). The death of authority? Retrieved September 8, 2005, from Tonkin, E. (2005). Making the case for a wiki [Electronic Version]. Ariadne. Retrieved September 7, 2005 from Wiki engines. (2005, August 30). WikiWikiWeb Retrieved September 9, 2005, from Wikipedia. (2006, February 20). Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia Retrieved February 20, 2006, from

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