Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Thing #15-Wiki, Wiki, Wiki

That is how my husband says Wiki, while he pretends that he is scratching a record. He cracks himself up.

Like Delicious, I was first introduced to Wikis in my 2.0 workshop in grad school. Once I discovered the benefits, there was no turning back.

We recently used the Libsuccess Wiki to find libraries offering IM services, so we could check out what others were doing as we started our IM project. It was easy to find, because this Wiki takes everything libraries and puts it all in once place, and it is completely searchable.

We also created a project wiki for our IM project. We posted all the assignments there and had the participants complete the assignments and post their results to the Wiki. We had a place for questions and answers. That way the whole group could participate in the discussion without creating a neverending e-mail chain. It has worked great. Everything is in one place, and it is completely searchable.

The library Information Line staff has also created an internal Wiki for collecting everything CML. Since we take all the calls for the Main library and all 20 branches, we collect a lot of "need to know." The Wiki allows us to organize all that information without filling up notebooks, bulletin boards and drawers with paper. It has a cool name too. "The Wiki Mart." And, it is completely searchable! Have I mentioned that? No more trying to remember where you put that flyer with all the info you need right now.

What am I trying to say here? Wikis rule!

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