Day 1@CIL2006: Wikis In Action
The wikis in action session was a double session that brought together librarians from Binghamton University, HSC Library, Stony Brook University and Ohio University Library to discuss implementation and use of wikis in their libraries.
One things that I found interesting about the presentation is that several of the presenters had found out about wikis at last year's CIL conference and are back talking about them at this year's conference.
Some key points from the session:
* Many of the presenters emphasized the importance of training as not only a means to promote the wiki but to also help ease users in to the new culture
* The group from Binghamtom mentioned the importance of creating online help files. Most wiki software comes with help files, but modifying the help files to suit your own needs gives for more control. As well, creating the help software is a good way to learn the software for yourself.
* Some lessons learned from wiki training:
- Be aware of information overload - keep training basic
- Hands-on learning is better, but does take more time
- Start with content already on the wiki and seek further suggestions
- Sandboxes are important features for users to test out wikis
* The HSC Library chose Twiki from among the various types of wiki software. (Fortunately for them, they were using a Linux/Apache server, which is a little more favourable for Twiki than Windows)
* Chad Boeninger talked about changing over traditional research guides (or subject guides/pathfinders) with wikis. Among the difficulties of traditional research guides:
- Redundancy of resources
- Multiple edits of the same content
- No way to measure use or success
- Timely updates are difficult
* Wikis make excellent teaching tools; replace class handouts; can provide a broader scope than class-specific handouts
* Wiki strengths as research guides:
- They can extend the reach of librarian
- They can promote sources
- They teach research skills
- They make the job of the librarian easier because it is easier to add / edit content
- They make information and knowledge more accessible with more timely content
* Wiki use ideas:
- Student research wikis
- First-year experience wikis
- Campus collaboration
Tag: CIL2006
One things that I found interesting about the presentation is that several of the presenters had found out about wikis at last year's CIL conference and are back talking about them at this year's conference.
Some key points from the session:
* Many of the presenters emphasized the importance of training as not only a means to promote the wiki but to also help ease users in to the new culture
* The group from Binghamtom mentioned the importance of creating online help files. Most wiki software comes with help files, but modifying the help files to suit your own needs gives for more control. As well, creating the help software is a good way to learn the software for yourself.
* Some lessons learned from wiki training:
- Be aware of information overload - keep training basic
- Hands-on learning is better, but does take more time
- Start with content already on the wiki and seek further suggestions
- Sandboxes are important features for users to test out wikis
* The HSC Library chose Twiki from among the various types of wiki software. (Fortunately for them, they were using a Linux/Apache server, which is a little more favourable for Twiki than Windows)
* Chad Boeninger talked about changing over traditional research guides (or subject guides/pathfinders) with wikis. Among the difficulties of traditional research guides:
- Redundancy of resources
- Multiple edits of the same content
- No way to measure use or success
- Timely updates are difficult
* Wikis make excellent teaching tools; replace class handouts; can provide a broader scope than class-specific handouts
* Wiki strengths as research guides:
- They can extend the reach of librarian
- They can promote sources
- They teach research skills
- They make the job of the librarian easier because it is easier to add / edit content
- They make information and knowledge more accessible with more timely content
* Wiki use ideas:
- Student research wikis
- First-year experience wikis
- Campus collaboration
Tag: CIL2006
posted by Dave Hook at
10:55 PM
2 Comments:
For anyone interested, Chad has posted his presentation slides here.
By
Dave Hook, at 11:32 PM
I am writing a series on best practices in wiki-based collaboration, and I would love to hear from the librarian community. Particularly interested in getting links to wikis in this world.
http://eastwikkers.typepad.com/eastwikkers_/2006/03/33_wikis_send_i.html
By
Giovanni Rodriguez, at 5:23 PM
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