#12

I had been vaguely aware of the existence of wikis prior to this prompt, but had not really ever considered utilizing one myself. For collaborative work in classes I have only ever used Google Docs, and it has certainly done the job just fine. It seems like wikis are a perfectly acceptable way to do the same kind of collaborative work, though, and I very well might utilize one in the near future.

I like how some people decide to make their own mini-Wikipedias that are specific to an area of interest (for example, this wiki about a cartoon I like). It makes it possible for people to create an authoritative collection of information similar to Wikipedia, just about something very specific.
I don't think I'm too crazy about the SJPCL subject guides, because it seems to serve a lot of the same purposes that a regular library homepage ought to. I do suppose it would be easier for any of the staff to jump in and edit the wiki instead of waiting for a webmaster to do what you want (if you were not familiar with HTML / XML / etc). It also seems that similar subject lists could be found elsewhere, but the wiki provides the chance to tailor such lists to the library's specific community and their actual holdings / resources.

The Library Success wiki is practically a database for library solutions, and I think it's a great resource for library employees to both refer to when they need a boost and add too when they have a stroke of genius. It's well organized (I like how everything is nicely nested / compartmentalized) and to the point. I think this is a great demonstration of a wiki being used to its fullest potential.

The ACPL staff wiki is also an effective way to sort of save notes / tips / reminders for staff without sending a bunch of emails or collecting a bunch of bookmarks in a browser or delicious. I wonder if many library staffs would consider building such a resource to be worth the time? Because it would take some time to build a wiki up to a point where it's actually of use to more than just a very small number of people.

I like the blogging libraries wiki too. All in all I think wikis can make for an effective sharing tool, but you need to take the time to think about how you're going to structure it, and have a definite purpose in mind.

When it comes to limiting student use of Wikipedia, I can understand the impulse to do so. I also think that, after showing students better ways to accrue their information, and they still chose to gather their information only from Wikipedia, it might be instructive for them to actually fail, to have it demonstrated that "This is not sufficient." Perhaps it isn't fair to set students up for failure in such a way, but it's a thought. I think the standard way of thinking at this point is that Wikipedia is a good place to start, but it isn't where you should end, and I subscribe to that idea.