Wikis

From the Hawaiian, meaning quick or fast, a wiki is a collaborative online space in which many users can work together on a shared document or webpage. A wiki allows users to create documents and websites quickly and easily, sometimes without even logging in. They are valuable tools for creating knowledge repositories and allowing user participation.

• Allows WYSIWYG interface for authors
• Uses its own wiki syntax which is easier than HTML
• Revision Control - All changes can be viewed and documents can be reverted to previous versions
• Many are free

Examples

• Wikipedia

• A free encyclopedia with over 10 million articles written in over 200 languages
• Receives hundreds of thousands of worldwide visitors daily who edit and contribute

• Congresspedia
• Wikitravel
• wikiHow
• Wookieepedia

Great Tools for:

• Team projects
• Knowledge bases
• Remote collaboration
• FAQs
• Course instruction
• Encyclopedias
• Intranets

How Are Libraries Using Them?

• As a staff Intranets
• As training tools
• As library websites
• As a subject guides portal
• As a book review wiki
• As a subject-focused resource
• As a review of library reference resources

How Are Librarians Using Them?

• ALA Annual 2007 Conference wiki
• LIS Wiki
• Bibliopedia
• ALA's Libland Wiki
• Library Success Wiki

Anatomy of a Wiki

• Add New Page
• Edit Page
• Comments
• Recent Changes
• Show All Pages
• RSS
• Files and Attachments

Types of Wiki Software

PBWiki

Wetpaint

SeedWiki

Wikispaces

Additional Resources

Choosing a Wiki guide

Wiki Comparison Matrix

Nature compares science entries in Wikipedia and Britannica

Hands-on

Exercise: 

• Go to Wetpaint.com
• Create a wiki on any topic
• Create a New Page

 making changes