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Wiki The Ultimate Tool for Online Collaboration

Discover the versatility of wikis - how to use, implement, and benefit from them. Learn successful wiki strategies from libraries, organizations, and event planners. Gain insight into wiki structure, components, and syntax. Compare wikis vs. blogs, understand the potential and limitations. Explore why wikis are essential for knowledge management and professional collaboration.

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Wiki The Ultimate Tool for Online Collaboration

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  1. WikiThe Ultimate Tool for Online Collaboration Meredith Farkas September 25, 2006 ALA Headquarters

  2. What you will learn • What a wiki is • What wikis are good for, what they’re not so good for • How libraries, organizations and conference organizers are successfully using wikis • Tips on developing a successful wiki

  3. What is a wiki? • Content management system • Allows people to collaboratively develop a Web site without any tech-savvy • Wiki = quick (in Hawaiian) • All community members can add to or edit the work of others

  4. Wiki background • Ward Cunningham and the Portland Pattern Repository • Wikipedia • Conference wikis, fan wikis, wiki knowledgebases • Organizations jump on the wiki bandwagon

  5. Wiki Structure • All wikis start off as a single blank page • Pages are created and connected by hyperlinks • No ownership of pages; anyone can change the work of others

  6. Wiki Components • Pages community members can add to or edit (example) • Discussion area for each page • List of all of the changes made to a particular page (version control) • List of all changes made to all pages.

  7. Wiki Syntax • Ways to format text, change color, create links, create tables, etc. • Wikipedia editor’s guide • Not difficult to learn, but different • Differences for each wiki • WYSIWYG is the future

  8. Wikis vs. Blogs • No one owns content • No specific organization (hyperlinks) • Anyone can edit other people’s work • A person owns their post • Organized in reverse chron. order • Only author can edit their own work (others can comment)

  9. Wikis vs. Blogs • Perpetual work in progress • Good for collaborative group work • Posts are permanent • Good for disseminating info/starting a dialogue

  10. Why wiki? • Easy to use • Web-based • Anyone can make changes • Findability (with database wikis) • Many free and open-source wikis • Flexible and extensible

  11. Why not wiki? • Too open (trust issues) • Concerns about ownership of content • Disorganized • Vandalism and spam

  12. Wikis in Practice

  13. Knowledge management (KM) • All organizations want to make the best use of organizational knowledge • Most are really bad at it • Wiki is a great KM tool

  14. Wiki as Intranet for info sharing • Most are behind the firewall or are password protected • SUNY Stonybrook Health Science Library Wiki • University of Connecticut Library • Norwich University Library Public Services Wiki

  15. Wiki as professional knowledgebase • Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki • Library Instruction Wiki • Qwiki: Quantum Physics Wiki • The New PR Wiki

  16. Wikis for conference planning behind the scenes • HigherEd BlogCon • Five Weeks to a Social Library • BarCamp • PodCon

  17. For ALA • Wiki intranet for ALA (knowledgebase) • Wiki for planning specific events, conferences, etc. • Wikis for specific groups (Web design team, Distance Learning section of ACRL, American Libraries staff, etc.)

  18. Wiki = quick • No editing in Dreamweaver, no FTP-ing into the server. • No waiting for the Webmaster to update your page. • Different people can be responsible for different content areas

  19. Wiki as Web site • Antioch University New England Library Staff Training and Support Wiki • University of South Carolina Aiken Library Web site • Bull Run Library • St. Joseph County Public Library Subject Guides

  20. For ALA • Wiki Web site for certain divisions that don’t have enough Web design support • Wiki for pages that are updated frequently and get out-of-date quickly • Example: PLA TechNotes

  21. When you want to hear from your users… • Wikis are a great way to get patrons/clients to participate in building your Web space • Resource guides • Feedback spaces • Book reviews • Area guides • You can learn a lot from your members or clients, and they will feel like you care about what they think

  22. Resource guides and book reviews • ProductWiki • Ohio University Library’s Biz Wiki • wikiXbox360 • Princeton Public Library’s Book Lovers Wiki • Wyoming Authors Wiki

  23. Area guides • RocWiki (Rochester, NY) • Davis Wiki (Davis, CA) • Arbor Wiki (Ann Arbor, MI) • PGHWiki (Pittsburgh, PA)

  24. For ALA • A Booklist book review wiki • A RUSA Great Reference Resources wiki • A LITA wiki that collects reviews of Integrated Library Systems, Link Resolvers, Federated Search software, etc. • Resource guides in any subject area • Area guides for conferences

  25. Wikis that build community • ICANN Wiki • Tax Almanac • Mandriva Club • Why not an ALA Wiki? With areas for each ALA event where people can share info. Also could include resource guides, info about ALA governance for members, etc.

  26. Conference Wikis • Library Conference Wikis • ALA 2005 Chicago Wiki • ALA 2006 New Orleans Wiki • CIL 2006 Wiki • IL 2006 Wiki • ASIS&T 2005 Wiki • MLA 2005 Wiki

  27. Conference Wiki Successes • ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki • Wikimania 2006 • What can we learn from them? • Grassroots feel makes for a better-used wiki • Need dedicated wiki managers, but also need dedicated wiki contributors

  28. Conference wiki elements • Conference information • Listing of all programs • Example: Wikimania • Example: KM World and Intranets ‘05 • Tips • Calendar of events (official and informal) • Example: eBay DevCon • Information about local area

  29. Conference wiki elements (cont’d) • Social elements • Profiles • Example: Agile 2006, IL2006 • Opportunity to ask questions of speakers on wiki • Attendee Blogs (off or on-site?) • Conference tag (ALA07 or ALA2007) • Forums • Chat (on wiki or IRC)

  30. Conference wiki elements (cont’d) • For during the conference • Announcements area • Speakers post their notes/slides • Attendees and speakers can continue discussions on the wiki • Attendees post reports or link to external blog posts • Example: Yale A2K Conference • Example: Agile 2006

  31. Conference wiki elements (cont’d) • Post conference • Get feedback from attendees about conference • Get feedback from attendees about wiki • Continued dialogue among attendees

  32. Wiki Tips How to develop and maintain a successful wiki

  33. Wiki Tips: Software • Popular options for wiki hosted on your server • MediaWiki • PmWiki • Twiki • SocialText • XWiki • Confluence ($$$)

  34. Wiki Tips: Software (cont’d) • Popular Options for wikis hosted by the software company • PBWiki • WetPaint • SeedWiki • If you want control, no ads, etc., host the wiki on your server. • If you don’t have server space, need the wiki for a small time-limited project, or are scared of maintaining a new tech, go with a hosted wiki. • Check out the WikiMatrix when thinking about which software to use

  35. Customizing MediaWiki • Extensions • Calendar • WYSIWYG Functionality (for those running PHP5 or higher) – WYSIWYG will soon be in the MediaWiki release!!! • User blogs • Permissioning • Forums (from TaxAlmanac) • and many more!

  36. Customizing MediaWiki • Skins • Security • Bad Behavior Plugin • E-mail authentication before editing (if you require people to register)

  37. Wiki Tips: Seeding • No one wants to add to an empty wiki • Also, people often don’t know what to add • Add some content to the major categories before going live • Creating an organizational scheme will prevent orphan links and chaos

  38. Wiki Tips: Documentation • Wikis need lots of info for novice users • What is a wiki • What can you do with this wiki • How to edit the wiki • FAQ • Whom to contact for more help • Prepare for lots of questions! • Wikipedia has lots of good documentation for MediaWiki users

  39. Wiki Tips: Content development • Do lots of marketing • Blogs • E-mail lists and forums • Publications (write an article on wikis!) • Partner with groups related to your mission • Give the wiki a grassroots feel, make it welcoming.

  40. Wiki Tips: Management • Security • Should you require registration? • Dealing with spam • Install spam-killing plugins or blacklists • Monitor the wiki several times a day • Dealing with trolls/flamers • Deleting things that are inappropriate vs. deleting things that you don’t like • Find lots of dedicated helpers!!!

  41. Questions? Comments? Meredith Farkas mgfarkas at gmail dot com http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/ AIM: librarianmer

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