[Web4lib] wikis in libraries

[Hutchens, Chad]

I'm going to have to side with John here.  Wiki's are interesting tools,
but there really isn't any great reason to use a wiki for FAQ's or
policy pages unless you want to let users write your FAQ's and policies
for you.  And I've often contemplated the utility of this along the same
lines as John; i.e. do they (users) really care enough for this to
attractive to anyone but librarians...IMHO this isn't necessarily a
"build it and they will come" type thing.  Even on the linked Univ of
Ohio examples, it doesn't appear to allow user-generated content...I'm
not sure what the real advantage is (other than being able to say you
used a wiki to accomplish it).  Maybe I'm missing something?

In general, the utility of wiki's and blogs in library literature and
conferences seems vastly overdone, to a fault even.  A simple web page
that's laid out correctly with CSS-styled definition lists or unordered
lists will work just as well without having to install anything on a
server somewhere.  As long as you take the time to build a
maintenance-friendly page with XHTML markup

Chad E. Hutchens
Electronic Resources Librarian
Montana State University Libraries
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT  59717-3320
(406) 994-4313 phone
(406) 994-2851 fax 
chutchens at montana.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of John Loy
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 1:00 PM
To: Mark Robertson
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] wikis in libraries

Mark,

It sounds like you've got a solution looking for a problem. Would  
your library users really want to contribute to a Library wiki? Would  
they care enough to take the time? What's in it for them? Also, most  
of the publishing uses you mention don't seem to require  
collaboration and could easily be realized without a wiki; by almost  
any web page/content management tool, in fact.

--
John Loy
Web Designer and Information Architect
University of Virginia Library
phone: (434) 924-7099
fax: (434) 924-1431
552 Alderman Library
http://lib.virginia.edu


On Oct 13, 2006, at 2:39 PM, Mark Robertson wrote:

> Our library is already using wikis internally for committee work  
> etc.  Now we are exploring the issue of how to use wikis on our  
> library website and beyond as a way of collaborating with our  
> users.  Can anyone suggest examples of libraries using wikis  
> successfully for this purpose?  What seems to work best? - wikis as  
> FAQs? wikis as subject pathfinders? wikis on policies? assignment  
> wikis?
>
> -- 
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mark Robertson
> Reference Librarian
> Scott Library - York University
> (416) 736-2100 x33526
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
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