Campus Library & Media Center Learning 2.0: Module 3: wikis

Welcome to the wikis module! Follow these three simple steps to success:

Step 1: read about wikis

Here are a few short readings to explain wikis and how they’re being used in the library world:

7 Things You Should Know About Wikis from Educause

Using Wikis to Support Online Collaboration in Libraries by Darlene Fichter, Coordinator of Data Library Services at the University of Saskatchewan Library.

Using a wiki to manage a library instruction program: Sharing knowledge to better serve patrons by Charles Allan, a Reference Librarian at East Tennessee State University’s Charles C. Sherrod Library

Meta Wiki: the wikipedia article on wikis

Step 2: contribute to and edit a wiki
I have set up a wiki called “read-this” using the hosting service Wikispaces. Wikispaces is easy to use, as contributors can edit by simply typing in text. No HTML or wiki markup language is required. Also, Andreas Brockhaus has been promoting Wikispaces with UWB faculty, so it’ll be good for us to know how it works.

“read-this” is a wiki we’ll create collectively. It’s about what we are reading, have read, recommend reading, etc. We may choose later to make this wiki public or use it with patrons, but for now it’s just a learning tool.

You’ll get an email inviting you into the wiki. Create a user name and password, then edit away! Remember: a wiki is a collaborative space: editing, changing, and augmenting what your colleagues have written is the name of the game.

There are some instructions about using the wiki on the home page, but if you need more help, check out the short videos on this help page.

Step 3: reflect
What are the strengths of wikis? And what are the weaknesses? What did you like and not like about the Wikispaces tool? And about the “read-this” wiki?
What are some good uses for wiki technology in the library?

post: check out these wikis