PPLD Thing #3 - Wikis

So wiki is Hawaiian for quick. I can see that since a wiki appears to be one big text document with hyper-links. It is pretty cool to see such a community effort in publishing, editing and policing a web site. Another plus is that you don't need to have the latest technology and the fastest broadband to load and edit a page. I can understand the cons such as vandalism, etc...but unfortunately that part of an open and free environment. I guess the virtual world parallels the real world in that aspect.

The PPLD has quite an extensive wiki on their intranet site. It has info on everything from employee/benefit policies to committee meeting minutes. It even has a staff bulletin board for the posting of items for sell, etc... If you need to know anything about what is going on in our district this is the place to go.

I am still not used to it though and forget to go look for answers to my questions. My entire working life I have been sent memos, e-mails or told new info in person so having to go look for myself is quite the new experience but I am getting used to it.

Part of this project was to look at how other wikis are setup and used.

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki (http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Main_Page) appears to be a very informative place for librarians throughout the world to collaborate and exchange ideas.

SJCPL Subject Guides (http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Main_Page) appears to be nothing more than a card catalogue. It is very restrictive and can be edited only by the librarians at the St. Joseph County Public Library. This seems contrary to the idea of openness that is part of the wiki ideal.

I also looked at Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). Now this the ultimate in open community effort. To read an extensive history of Colorado Springs, CO go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Springs.

Overall, I think wikis are quite useful for the spreading of information and ideas. I might have to set one up someday to play around with and learn more. Any ideas for the subject matter?