Wiki The Ultimate Tool For Online Collaboration Meredith

Wiki: The Ultimate Tool For Online Collaboration Meredith Farkas November 15, 2006 Michigan Library Consortium

What you will learn What a wiki is ¡ What wikis are good for, what they’re not so good for ¡ How libraries are successfully using wikis ¡ Tips on developing a successful wiki ¡

What is a wiki? Allows people to collaboratively develop a Web site without any tech -savvy (no HTML required!) ¡ Like a content management system ¡ Wiki = quick (in Hawaiian) ¡ All community members can add to or edit the work of others ¡

Wiki background Ward Cunningham and the Portland Pattern Repository ¡ Wikipedia ¡ Conference wikis, fan wikis, wiki knowledgebases ¡

Wiki Structure All wikis start off as a single blank page ¡ Pages are created and connected by hyperlinks ¡ No ownership of pages; anyone can change the work of others ¡

Wiki components

Discussion area for each page

All changes made to the page

List of changes made to all pages

Wiki Syntax Ways to format text, change color, create links, create tables, etc. ¡ Not difficult to learn, but different ¡ Example: ALA New Orleans Wiki ¡ Differences for each wiki ¡ WYSIWYG is the future ¡

Wikis vs. No one owns content ¡ No specific organization (hyperlinks) ¡ Anyone can edit other people’s work ¡ Blogs A person owns their post ¡ Organized in reverse chron. order ¡ Only author can edit their own work (others can comment) ¡

Wikis vs. Perpetual work in progress ¡ Good for collaborative group work ¡ Blogs Posts are permanent ¡ Good for disseminating info/starting a dialogue ¡

Why wiki? Easy to use ¡ Web-based ¡ Anyone can make changes ¡ Findability ¡ Many free and open-source wikis ¡ Flexible and extensible ¡

Why not wiki? Too open (trust issues) ¡ Concerns about ownership of content ¡ Disorganized ¡ Vandalism and spam ¡

Wikis in Practice

How libraries can use wikis with their patrons Community wiki ¡ Subject guide wiki ¡ Wiki as courseware ¡ Wiki as Web site ¡

Community wiki http: //daviswiki. org/

Subject guide wiki http: //www. library. ohiou. edu/subjects/bizwiki/

Wiki as courseware http: //biro. bemidjistate. edu/~morgan/e-rhetoric/wiki. php

Wiki as Web site http: //library. usca. edu/Main/Home. Page

How librarians can use wikis Staff Intranet ¡ Collaborative document editing ¡ Collaboratively-developed manual ¡ Guidebook ¡ Knowledgebase ¡ Planning space for conferences ¡

Staff Intranet

Collaborative document editing http: //www. zohowriter. com/

Collaboratively-developed manual http: //www. seedwiki. com/wiki/ antioch_university_new_england_library_staff_training_and_support_wiki/

Guidebook http: //il 2006. pbwiki. com/

Knowledgebase http: //www. libsuccess. org/

Planning space for conferences http: //wikimania 2006. wikimedia. org/wiki/Main_Page

Wiki Tips How to develop and maintain a successful wiki

Wiki Tips: Software ¡ Do you want your wiki hosted? l l l ¡ Wiki Farms Easier if you don’t have a server or don’t know what you’re doing Examples: PBWiki, Wet. Paint, Wiki. Spaces Do you want to install the software on your own server? l l More software options this way More control Maintenance burden is on you Examples: Media. Wiki, Pm. Wiki, Twiki

Things to consider ¡ ¡ ¡ Programming language Ease of installation Security l Permissioning l Spam prevention Ease of use Cost

Things to consider (cont’d) ¡ ¡ ¡ Syntax Version control Ability to hold discussions RSS Ability to change look For help choosing software, check out the Wiki Matrix (http: //www. wikimatrix. org/).

Wiki management Seeding the wiki ¡ Documentation ¡ Policies ¡ Marketing ¡ Dealing with spam ¡

Questions? Just ask! E-mail me: mfarkas@norwich. edu AIM me: librarianmer Visit my site: meredith. wolfwater. com