Wikis

From IPL Wiki

A wiki is a collection of web pages that anyone can edit. Wikis are often used to create collaborative and community websites. Wikis are also used in business and other organizations to provide intranet and knowledge management systems.

Contents 1 About Wikis 2 How do Wikis work? 3 Best Practices 4 IPL examples 5 Hands on Activity 6 Articles about Wikis 7 Feedback and Prize Drawing

About Wikis

The first wiki, called "WikiWikiWeb," after the Hawaiian word for "fast," was developed by Ward Cunningham and launched in 1995 (Hof, 2004). Probably the best known wiki is Wikipedia, which functions as a continually expanding and evolving general encyclopedia written and edited by its users. However there are also wikis that focus on more narrow topics, as for example WikiTravel for worldwide travel information and LISWiki for Library and Information Science, as well as wikis which control who can edit articles such as Encyclopedia of Earth, which restricts authors and editors to subject experts.

How do Wikis work?

A wiki allows anyone to easily update and upload content on the site, typically providing a simplified interface allowing editing, page creation, and collaborative writing. There are many free, highly customizable platforms, including the most popular:

• Wetpaint http://www.wetpaint.com/
• PBWorks http://pbworks.com/
• Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com/

To compare wiki platforms by criteria including hosting features or system requirements, see:

• WikiMatrix http://www.wikimatrix.org/

Best Practices

• Book Lovers Wiki by Princeton Public Library

• Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki

• Ohio University Libraries' Biz Wiki

• Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County wikis

IPL examples

Teen Poetry Wiki The IPL's Teen Poetry Wiki gives teens a way to express themselves through poetry in a unique format. To contribute to the wiki, users simply fill out a form to join.

LC wiki The IPL's Learning Community uses this public wiki to showcase student work, promote IPL information and activities, and facilitate collaboration.

Hands on Activity

IPL 15 Things Sandbox wiki - this "sandbox" wiki provides a place where you can experiment with creating and modifying your own wiki page.

To experiment with editing in the IPL 15 Things Sandbox wiki, click the link and follow the instructions on the next page you see. You can copy, paste, and modify the pages you see in creating your own experimental page.

Articles about Wikis

• Chu, S. W. (2009). Using Wikis in Academic Libraries. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 35 (2): 170-176.

• Farkas, Meredith. (2005) Using Wikis to Create Online Community. http://www.webjunction.org/technology/web-tools/articles/content/438229

• Hof, Robert D. (2004) Something Wiki This Way Comes. BusinessWeek, (6/7/2004), 3886: 128.

• Russell, John (2008) Wikis and Collaborative Reference Services, in Steiner, Sarah K. and Madden, M. Leslie, Eds. The Desk and Beyond: Next Generation Reference Services, pages pp. 99-105. Association of College and Research Libraries.Retrieved from: http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/2439/

• Educause Learning Intitiative (ELI). 7 things you should know about...Wikis http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf Retrieved July 28, 2009.

• Wiki Research Bibliography: From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Research_Bibliography Retrieved July 28, 2009.

• Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Medical Education 2006. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6920/6/41/#B20 Retrieved July 28, 2009.

Feedback and Prize Drawing

To give feedback to the IPL about the 15 Things and to register for the prize drawing, please visit: http://vll.ipl.org/15things/index.html

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