1. Wikis and Libraries: A Winning Combination Darlene Fichter University of Saskatchewan darlene.fichter@usask.ca April 18. 2006

2. Darlene Fichter Photo by: rolobeetle Some rights reserved.rolobeetle

3. Overview  Collaboration & communication  Wikis –How do they work –What are some of the benefits –Blogs and wikis, what to use when

4. Questions  What is your primary role at your organization?  Reference/Instructional Librarian  Library ITS (web developer, systems librarian)  Library manager  Collections or Cataloguing or Digital Projects  Other  Are you interested in using wikis for:  Subject pages  Internal project or team work  Documentation  Personal web publishing  Conference  Intranet  Don’t know  Do you contribute to a wiki?  Does your organization use:  Blogs  Wikis  RSS feeds

5. Poll: Committees and Teams  How many groups do you belong to?  None  one to two  three to five  More than 5  How do you share information? –Email –Mailing list –Shared file server –BBS –IM  What are some of the limitations?

6. What if …  Reduce email overload  Have an archive of the work done to date  Build a knowledge base auto-magically  Have an easy way to write reports, documents, policies, and procedures together

7. Technologies Enabling Online Collaboration  Dozens: –Discussion forums –Email –Instant messaging –Newsgroups –Webcasts –Web conferencing – Weblogs –Team rooms –Text messaging/wireless – RSS – Wiki –Expertise location –FOAF

8. What is a “Wiki”?  Web application invented by Ward Cunningham in 1994 that allows anyone to add content and anyone to edit it. “It’s a tool for collaboration, really, we don’t know quite what it is but it’s a fun way of communicating asynchronously across the network”.  Wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian

9. Wiki Characteristics  Intended to be simple so you can focus on the writing, not the mechanics and syntax  No HTML know-how required

10. Wikis: Collections of Pages Main Page Contact UsElectronic Virtual edit  Wiki pages look like web pages  Anyone with a web browser can read a wiki site Illustrations adapted from Guillaume du Gardier. What is a wiki? June 2, 2005

11. Click, Write and Save edit save...KMWorld 2005 …KMWorld 2005  Anyone with a web browser can edit a wiki site  Anyone can undo any change at any time

12.  Make a new page by typing the name in CamelCase, aka WikiName Creating New Pages Title … NewName … edit NewName  Click on any WikiName to see pages that link to it

13. Wiki Design Principles  Openness and trust –if a page is incomplete or inaccurate anyone can edit it  Incremental –pages can cite other pages, even those not yet written  Observable –you can see the changes being made  Organic –site structure is up to everyone, and it will evolve and change  More principles… Wiki Design Principles http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples Openness and Trust

14. Wiki Examples: Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org

15. Wikipedia: Recent Changes

16. Time Lapse – London Bombing http://thelastminute.typepad.com/blog/2005/07/the_day_citizen.html

17. Wikipedia: Viewing History

18. Wikipedia: Talk Page

19. Wiki Gardeners  Person who goes around tidying up the wiki, pruning, editing, organizing, and cleaning up  Usually liked and respected On a library wiki, you might want to assign this role.

20. Wikis: Professional Knowledge Repositories http://www.libsuccess.org/

21. Wikis: Conference http://cil2006.pbwiki.com/changes.php?pageID=1/

22. Library Web Site: Wiki Subject Guide http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/index.php/Main_Page

23. SCJPL: Subject Guides http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page

24. SCJPL: Subject Guides http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Pets

25. SCJPL: Discussion Pages http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Talk:Crafts

26. Coralville Public Library: Let’s Write! http://www.coralvillepubliclibrary.org/warm.htm

27. Library Web Site Built With a Wiki http://library.usca.edu/

28. Tour: Library Wikis  Internal uses –Staff Intranet –Projects –Event planning –IT documentation –Helpdesk

29. Library Intranet http://wiki.lib.umn.edu/

30. Library Intranet http://wiki.lib.uconn.edu/wiki/Main_Page

31. Library Information Technology Services Wiki http://wiki.library.vanderbilt.edu/

32. Project/Committee http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/b-team/

33. Internal Wikis in Libraries  Collaborative writing (projects, teams developing procedures, policies, plans)  Meeting notes and reports  Shared knowledge repository

34. Simple Case Study: Event Planning Hosted Wiki: Jotspot www.jotspot.com

35. WYSIWYG Editor

36. What Pages Have Changed?

37. See What Changed

38. Single Page or Side by Side

39. Wiki (Jotspot) Anatomy: Features Attach a File Import Word Emails Send an Email Make a comment Invite users Changes via RSS Search

40. Event Planning and Support http://coppul.jotspot.com (Password protected)

41. Wiki Reactions  Well, I wasn't sure about that wiki (sounded like something from Star Wars), but I decided to try it out. It is fabulous! Every conference should have one. Gail Curry, UNBC

42. Conference / Wiki Support  Participants signed up for wifi, dine-arounds, connected with each other before the event  Shared notes during the presentation and uploaded slides  Evaluated the workshop

43. Wiki Roadmap*  Install wiki software on web server  Plan rollout and content  Build the initial structure  Populate initial content with early adopters  Initial rollout with smaller group  Train and coach users  Do not underestimate inertia and time *Peter Theony, Wiki Based Collaboration http://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/TWikiPresentation17Feb2005  Build the initial structure

44. Practical Tips  Have a champion –New way of “thinking”, paradigm shift from Intranet, webmaster or CMS (content management system)  Choose the right features: –Attach files –Access control –Version control –Ease of use: make sure “add a page” is self evident –Match look and feel –Alert and post via email to wiki

45. Tools to Help You Choose  Wiki Matrix –http://www.wikimatrix.org/http://www.wikimatrix.org/  Emma Tonkin’s charts in –Making the Case for a Wiki. Ariadne, January 2005 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue42/tonkin/ http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue42/tonkin/

46. Weblogs and Wikis Face Off Photo Credit: Pascal Vuylsteker http://www.flickr.com/photos/pvk/ CC Attribution 2.5Pascal Vuylsteker

47. WikisWeblogs  Group voice  Unstructured, organic  Anyone edits  Fluid medium: change any time  Better management: versions, rollback and change log, syndicate changes  Less familiar  Individual voice  Default is by date, reverse chronological  Anyone comments  Post medium like email (comment, reply, comment, …)  Edits aren’t tracked usually, new items are syndicated  More familiar

48. Wiki Brainstorm Think about collaborative/team activities in your organization and library. Identify 2 or 3 areas where a wiki web would help with collaboration. Identify the “biggest obstacles” and how you might overcome them.

49. Wiki Summary  Wikis help support collaboration  Tools are simple, quick and inexpensive  They belong in our collaboration toolbox  Our workplaces are diverse –Diverse users –Diverse needs –Diverse software choices

50. More Resources  Wiki Bibliography & Links –http://library.usask.ca/~fichter/wiki/http://library.usask.ca/~fichter/wiki/

51. Questions darlene.fichter@usask.ca