[Web4lib] wikis in libraries

[Lars Aronsson]

Leo Robert Klein wrote:

> I mean, what's so exceptional about a Wiki that you should have 
> to learn code for it one way or the other?

Perhaps you're right and wiki is code.  Whether you learn the 
basic markup or get help from a WYSIWYG interface, the next step 
involves creating a useful link structure among dozens of pages, 
and this might just be beyond most people.

So should we just leave the wikis to specialist "coders"?  Normal 
users might be able to handle blogs (and readers' comments), where 
they just push a button and add a new entry, not having to think 
about link structure.

This would certainly put Wikipedia's writers in a different 
perspective.  For one thing, we must curb our enthusiasm of wikis 
as "democratic" knowledge bases, where everybody can edit.  
Average users could be given the chance to attach blog-like 
comments which can later be edited into the wiki structure by the 
information specialists (= librarians).


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se