I was enlightened and impressed upon reviewing this week’s examples of library wikis and the varied ways in which they are used. These include sharing information for internal staff purposes (Antioch New England Graduate School's Library Training Wiki, Alaska Association of School Librarians), strategic planning (Durham County Library Strategic Plan wiki), conferences (ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki), subject guides (Plymouth Regional High School Library Wiki, Ohio University’s Biz Wiki), and even as a library’s website (University of South Carolina Aiken Gregg-Graniteville Library).
My favorite out of the group though is the Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki which is a conglomeration of ideas, links, and materials contributed by librarians or any interested party. It is truly a collaborative and positive endeavor whose purpose is to collect and organize information and ideas in order to help and inspire librarians everywhere in their pursuit of instituting successful programming. The wiki effectively accomplishes this due to many of the factors discussed by Cashel (2007) and therefore is one that in his words, works well: 1) “for groups that already know each other” – the community served is made up of librarians sharing a common goal of pursuing library successes; 2) “for co-assembly” in addition to “co-editing” – this is a project that encourages many contributors; 3) “when a clear nucleus is provided” – the first page introduction, community information, and contribution guidance is much appreciated by a new participant like me; 4) “with a clear final product in mind” – while this product is meant to be dynamic, its intent is clear; and 5) “in documenting consensus rather than opinions” – it is set up is a place for shared ideas and links, but not in the form of a discussion board.
On this wiki there is a wealth of information on most library topics of current relevance to librarians, and if not, you can just add it yourself! But beware because once you start editing, you may just get hooked and have trouble stopping. I’d never contributed to a wiki before and I must confess, it can be addicting, but fortunately in a very good way.
I think it's important to note that although librarians may not know each other personally - as in a situation in which a wiki is being edited by librarians across the world - they do, as you pointed out, have a common interest and skill set.
ReplyDelete