Week 8 Continued: More Thoughts on Wikis

I liked exploring some non-Wikipedia wikis for Thing 19. It's good to be reminded of just how many subect- and interest-specific wikis there are, and how useful (or enjoyable!) some of them can be.

While browsing library- and non-library-related wikis as a part of Week 8's activities, I looked primarily at the index of library-blogs compiled in the Blogging Libraries Wiki and at the Library Success wiki.

I also found (rediscovered, really) a resource that I am hoping to be able to put to use this spring and summer: Wikitravel. I think that a wiki is an especially good way to record many contributors' insights on travel destinations and concerns, and I like the idea of being able to draw on the wisdom of a group when making decisions about traveling to new places.

Although I didn't really need to be convinced of the usefulness of wikis, this activity was a good opportunity to do some thinking about the specific value of wikis in the LFPL context.

I like the wiki format both for internal use among library staff, and as a resource that we can share with patrons. Exchanging information about the library's behind-the-scenes operations in a wiki format would give library employees an accessible way to communicate about their work and learn from each other's experiences. This could augment the "official" training material and information and be quickly edited and updated to include vital information.

Sharing information about wikis with patrons is one more way to empower the public to use technologies in ways that benefit them. Whether patrons use wikis in an active or a passive way, it's important that they be aware of and understand the basics about this type of resource, including its benefits and its limitations. While a wiki may not always be the appropriate resource for a given project or question, there is an enormous amount of information contained in wikis that can be useful to our patrons, and they may even find themselves inspired to share their own knowledge with the world in wiki form.

These two applications of wikis would advance the Library's mission on more than one front, by allowing LFPL staff members to be better able to find the information they needed to do their jobs, and by providing patrons with yet another way to access information.