Wikis

This week I've begun playing with wikis. I've had a small amount of experience with them prior to this, because in IR&T we manage WikIRT which provides updates on recently purchased materials and also access issues etc. I think WikIRT is a useful resource, but it is made that way by being kept current. This exercise has made me mindful of the fact that I really need to update it and add some news.

I began by looking at some of the suggested wikis. I quite liked the idea of the Pathfinder wiki from St. Joseph County Public Library system. It looked easy to work with, and very clearly set out. I did get a little distracted by the family history section, which looked like one of the best pathfinders I've seen, except for the fact that it was US-focused :-)

I preferred the Library Success wiki. I really loved this site, it is somewhere that I will visit regularly now that I know it's here. I've tried to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates, but it doesn't appear to be generating feeds correctly. I think it could be a useful reference for the future, the section on selecting materials was really very interesting. Again, well structured and useful - what more could we ask for!! It does seem that the more successful wikis are the result of a good community interaction. I think I need to begin making more of an effort myself.