Getting Organized: Using Del.icio.us and Wikis to organize library content

“Wikis”

Betsy LikeWebster Veterinary Library

Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine508-839-7925 ♦ betsy.like@tufts.edu

What are wikis?

WikiA wiki is a type of website that lets anyone create and edit its pages. The word is Internet slang. The word Wiki is short for WikiWikiWeb. Wikiwiki is a word from Hawaiian, meaning "fast" or "speed". . . .

Every wiki can be changed, or edited by everyone, although some important pages cannot be changed by anyone. Wikis are central places where we all can share information with each other, people can add new information, and then people read them. Wikis allow information from all around the world to be collection.

- from Wikipedia, http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Wiki Pros & Cons

• anyone can edit

• content is protected by an active wiki community

• easy to learn and use – a flexible tool which can be used for a wide range of applications

• can work collaboratively and share documents

• lots of software options open source

hostedlocally installedfee-based

wiki farms

Wiki Pros & Cons

• anyone can edit

• needs to be managed to maintain organization, usability, accuracy, etc.

• needs to be managed to control spam and vandalism

• requires an Internet connection

Wiki Examples

Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org

GasBuddy http://gasbuddy.com/

Open Directory Project http://www.dmoz.org

wikiHow http://www.wikihow.com

/Main-Page

Wiki Search Engines

WikiIndex http://www.wikiindex.org

/Welcome(not comprehensive)

Wikia http://www.wikia.com (better results than WikiIndex)

Google’s Wiki Search http://www.wiki.com/

Wiki1001 http://wiki1001.com/

Collaborative Sites

• Google Docs, http://docs.google.com (need a Google account)

• LabMeeting, http://www.labmeeting.com/

• Library of Congress' Flickr photostream, http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/

Wikis @ Tufts

• John A Seaverns Equine Collection

• Veterinary Public Health Grant Project

• Aquapedia

• Dagomba Dance Drumming

• Galactic Ecosystems

• Tufts Nutrition & Genomics Laboratory

• Tufts Physics & Astronomy Department

Wikis @ …

Mount Wachusett Community College MWCC Library Staff Manual,

http://mwcclibrarymanual.pbworks.com

Worcester Public Library Wikis WPL Reference Division Info,

http://sites.google.com/site/wplrefe/Home other wikis

Wikis to play with

• PBWiki, http://pbwiki.com/academic.wiki

http://cmrlsarc.pbwiki.comemail: betsy.like@tufts.edu

password: cmrlsarc

help: http://usermanual.pbworks.com/FrontPage

notes: 2GB of storage (free edition), edit lock feature, wysiwyg or html, handles plugins

Wikis to play with

• MindTouch Deki Express, http://www.mindtouch.com/Products/Deki_Express

http://cmrslarc.wik.is/

username: Admin

password: cmrlsarc

help: http://www.mindtouch.com/User_Manual

Wikis to play with

• Confluence, http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/

http://wikis.uit.tufts.edu/confluence/display/CMRLSARC/

help: http://confluence.atlassian.com/display/DOC/Confluence+User+Guide

Resources

• Wiki Farms, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiFarms(reviews of wiki hosts)

• Why Wiki Works, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WhyWikiWorks

• Why Wiki Works Not, http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?WhyWikiWorksNot

Resources

• Tapscott D, Williams AD. Wikinomics: how mass collaboration changes everything. New York: Portfolio, 2006.

• What Is a Wiki (and How to Use One for Your Projects) by Tom Stafford and Matt Webb, http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2006/07/07/what-is-a-wiki.html

• WikiEducator Tutorials, http://www.wikieducator.org/Help:Contents

• WikiMatrix, http://www.wikimatrix.org/