Wikis are wonderful. I mean, who hasn’t used Wikipedia? A wiki is a great way of bringing together shared knowledge on a topic and entries can be edited very easily. If an entry is found to contain errors or misleading information, it can be easily edited. If required, it is easy to backtrack to earlier entries as a complete history is saved with each edit. In a library situation wikis can be used to increase client involvement (for example by contributing book reviews and adding tags), or as an industry/staff resource (such as Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki or perhaps as a resource for the serials section).
I looked at a few wikis, the first one being the SJCPL Subject Guides wiki. I thought that this wiki was very useful as it groups topics into commonly used subject guides such as Family History and Computer Classes. It provides links to the library’s catalogue and databases as well as external links.
I was amazed at the depth of information on Wookieepedia. It made me realise how little I know about Star Wars!
A really great wiki is Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki where library staff from all sorts of libraries share their knowledge, ideas and successful programs that they have developed.
Now I just need time to explore more wikis!
