1 / 44

Wikis Basics, Tools and Strategies

Wikis Basics, Tools and Strategies. Meredith Farkas April 15, 2007 Computers in Libraries. What you will learn. What a wiki is What wikis are good for, what they’re not so good for How libraries and other groups are successfully using wikis How to get started with wikis

arobin
Download Presentation

Wikis Basics, Tools and Strategies

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. WikisBasics, Tools and Strategies Meredith Farkas April 15, 2007 Computers in Libraries

  2. What you will learn • What a wiki is • What wikis are good for, what they’re not so good for • How libraries and other groups are successfully using wikis • How to get started with wikis • Tips on developing a successful wiki

  3. Who am I? Meredith Farkas • Distance Learning Librarian at Norwich University (VT). • Author - Social Software in Libraries. • Columnist – “Technology in Practice” column in American Libraries. • Blogger - Information Wants to be Free and TechEssence. • Wiki manager - Library Success, ALA 2005 and 2006, etc.

  4. My experience with wikis • Looking for a way to collect knowledge for ALA Annual 2005. • A Website would only collect my knowledge • ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki • Amazing community formed around the wiki!

  5. Library Success Wiki • Where does a new librarian go to get ideas and learn from other people's successes? • Library Success Wiki: Designed to collect best practices, good ideas, useful articles and links, etc. • Site has developed a diverse community of individuals who add content in their areas of interest.

  6. Other wikis I’ve created • ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki • CIL 2006 Wiki • IL 2006 Wiki • KM World 2006 Wiki • Buying and Selling eContent Wiki • CIL 2007 Wiki • Many other personal wikis for planning, internal wiki at work, etc.

  7. What is a wiki? • Content management system • Allows people to collaboratively develop a Web site without any tech-savvy • Wiki = quick (in Hawaiian) • All community members can add to or edit the work of others

  8. Wiki background • Ward Cunningham and the Portland Pattern Repository • Wikipedia • Conference wikis, fan wikis, wiki knowledgebases • Wikis in the library! Still often controlled access. • Organizations jump on the wiki bandwagon

  9. 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

  10. Wiki Components • Pages community members can add to or edit (example) • Discussion area for each page • List of all of the changes made to a particular page (version control) • List of all changes made to all pages.

  11. Wiki Syntax • Ways to format text, change color, create links, create tables, etc. • Wikipedia editor’s guide • Not difficult to learn, but different • Differences for each wiki • WYSIWYG is the future

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

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

  14. Why wiki? • Easy to use • Web-based • Anyone can make changes • Version control • Findability (with database wikis) • Many free and open-source wikis • Flexible and extensible

  15. Knowledge management (KM) • All organizations want to make the best use of organizational knowledge • Most are really bad at it • Wiki is a great KM tool

  16. Wiki = quick • No editing in Dreamweaver, no FTP-ing into the server. • No waiting for the Webmaster to update your page. • Different people can be responsible for different content areas

  17. Collaboration • Wikis are a great way to get patrons/colleagues to participate in building a Web space • Resource guides • Conference • Book reviews • Area guides • You can learn a lot from your patrons and colleagues!

  18. Why not wiki? • Too open (trust issues) • Concerns about ownership of content • Disorganized • Vandalism and spam Wikis aren't for everyone. If control is a major issue with the site you're developing, then a wiki may not be right for your project.

  19. Questions?

  20. Wikis in Practice

  21. How libraries can use wikis with their patrons • Community wiki • Subject guide wiki • Wiki as courseware • Wiki as Web site • Wiki for capitalizing on the collective intelligence

  22. Community wikis • RocWiki (Rochester, NY) • Davis Wiki (Davis, CA) • Arbor Wiki (Ann Arbor, MI) • PGHWiki (Pittsburgh, PA)

  23. Wikis that build community • ICANN Wiki • Tax Almanac • Mandriva Club

  24. Subject guides • Ohio University Library’s Biz Wiki • St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides

  25. Wiki as Website and courseware • University of South Carolina Aiken Library Web site • Bull Run Library • Bemidji State University eRhetoric course wiki

  26. Capitalizing on the collective intelligence • Resource guides and book reviews • ProductWiki • wikiXbox360 • Princeton Public Library’s Book Lovers Wiki • Wyoming Authors Wiki

  27. How librarians can use wikis • Staff Intranet • Collaborative document editing • Collaboratively-developed manual • Conference wikis • Knowledgebase • Planning space for conferences

  28. Wiki as Intranet for info sharing • Most are behind the firewall or are password protected • SUNY Stonybrook Health Science Library Wiki • University of Connecticut Library

  29. Collaborative document editing • ZohoWriter • Google Docs and Spreadsheets • You could even just use something like PBWiki!

  30. Collaboratively-developed manual • Print manuals are really hard to update! • Antioch University New England Library Staff Training and Support Wiki

  31. Conference wikis • ALA 2005 Chicago Wiki • ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki • IL 2006 Wiki • Wikimania 2006

  32. Wiki as professional knowledgebase • Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki • Library Instruction Wiki • Qwiki: Quantum Physics Wiki • The New PR Wiki

  33. Planning space for conferences • Hard to plan a conference with people from all over the place. • Five Weeks to a Social Library • BarCamp • PodCon

  34. Wiki Tips How to develop and maintain a successful wiki

  35. Wiki Tips: Software • Popular options for wiki hosted on your server • MediaWiki • PmWiki • Twiki • MoinMoin • XWiki • Confluence ($$$)

  36. Wiki Tips: Software (cont’d) • Popular Options for wikis hosted by the software company • PBWiki • WetPaint • SeedWiki • If you want control, no ads, etc., host the wiki on your server. • If you don’t have server space, need the wiki for a small time-limited project, or are scared of maintaining a new tech, go with a hosted wiki. • Check out the WikiMatrix when thinking about which software to use

  37. Choosing software: What to consider • Programming language • Ease of installation • Security • Permissioning • Spam prevention • Ease of use • Cost   • Version control

  38. What to consider (cont’d) • Syntax • Ability to hold discussions • RSS • Ability to change look • Extensions • Trajectory of development/support of development

  39. Wiki Tips: Seeding the wiki • No one wants to add to an empty wiki • Also, people often don’t know what to add • Add some content to the major categories before going live • Creating an organizational scheme will prevent orphan links and chaos

  40. Wiki Tips: Documentation • Wikis need lots of info for novice users • What is a wiki • What can you do with this wiki • How to edit the wiki • FAQ • Whom to contact for more help • Prepare for lots of questions! • Wikipedia has lots of good documentation for MediaWiki users

  41. Wiki Tips: Content development • Do lots of marketing • If possible, offer trainings • Partner with groups/people related to your mission • Don’t do it all yourself! • Give the wiki a grassroots feel, make it welcoming.

  42. Wiki Tips: Management • Security • Should you require registration? • Dealing with spam • Install spam-killing plugins or blacklists • Bad Behavior plugin. • Monitor the wiki several times a day • Get to know and love RSS • Find lots of dedicated helpers!!!

  43. How to deal with posts you don’t like • Guidelines • Limit to on-topic posts • Take a note from the Wikipedia’s policies and guidelines • Get a committed group of volunteers to patrol a public wiki • If you need to delete something - use discussion area to explain why things were deleted.

  44. Questions? Comments? Meredith Farkas mgfarkas at gmail dot com http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/ AIM: librarianmer Links and more resources at http://meredithfarkas.wetpaint.com/

More Related