1. Wikis in Action: A Wiki as a Research Guide
Chad F. Boeninger
Computers in Libraries
March 22, 2006

2. Traditional Research Guides
Research guide = subject guide = pathfinder
Popular method of disseminating library information
Previously had 3 research guides
Business Research Guide
International Business Research Guide
Marketing Research Guide

3. Traditional Research Guides
Redundancy of resources
No interlinking
Multiple edits of the same content
Not searchable
No way to measure use
Timely updates are difficult

4. The Wiki Process Installed MediaWiki on our server
Added most useful content from old research guides
Wiki organization evolved while adding content

5. The Biz Wiki Organized by area of research need
Organized by area of research need
Browse by category or alphabet
Searchable by keyword
Users can edit/add content
Interlinked articles allow for increased access to information

6. Reference Content Key reference resources Guides to common questions
Definitions of terms
Examples:
Demographics USA
Doing Business in Another Country
Company Annual Reports

7. What About the Catalog?
Library catalog entry for Exporter’s Encyclopaedia
Biz Wiki article for Exporter’s Encyclopaedia

8. Instruction Content Wikis make excellent teaching tools
Replace class handouts
Broader scope than class specific handouts
Example: Industry Research Basics

9. On the Fly Content

10. “On the Fly” Content Answered reference email question
Similar question via IM
Used content of previous question to create wiki article
Answer is out of and on the web
Easier future access to information

11. Popular Pages Feature Popular Pages See what is being used
Useful for collection development
See what you need to create more of
Automobile Industry Guide

12. Creating Content Create an article
Link to the article from another article
Assign a category for the article

13. Biz Wiki Usage 1 24576 Academic Search Premier
Lexis-Nexis Academic
ERIC
Business Source Premier (BSP)
PsycINFO
BIOSIS Previews
Business and Industry
Education Abstracts
JSTOR
Science Citation Index Expanded
Factiva
Medline (1966 to the present)
General Science Full Text
WorldCat
Biz Wiki
RefWorks
Hoover's Online
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Oxford English Dictionary
AnyWho Directory
January 1-March 2, 2006

14. Feedback on the Wiki
“You weren’t around, so I showed them the Biz Wiki Guide to Doing Business in Another Country, and they were satisfied.”--Reference Librarian
“I had no idea how to find a swot analysis, so I just searched for ‘swot’ in the Biz Wiki, and low and behold, you had an article on finding a SWOT analysis.” ---Reference Librarian

15. Wiki Challenges Getting others to contribute
More content = more maintenance
Maintaining organization and structure with growth of content
Difficult to see new content
Spam, Spam, and more Spam
MySQL stop words (SIC)

16. Wiki Strengths Extend the reach of the librarian
Promote sources
Teach research skills
Make the job of the librarian easier
Easy to add and edit content

17. More Wiki Strengths Make information and knowledge more accessible
Content is more timely
Potential for contributing to the academic learning community

18. Future of Wikis Wiki/Blog/RSS workshops
Promote feedback mechanisms of the wiki
Gather input from users (librarians, students, faculty)
Record usage of library resources

19. More Wiki Ideas Student Research Wikis First-year experience wiki
Campus collaboration
Multi-disciplinary subjects (Latin American Studies/Women’s Studies/Film)

20. Special Thanks Alden Library Reference Staff
Alden Library Systems Staff
Numerous Library Bloggers
Ohio University Business researchers

21. Questions??