Thing #8: Wikis

What is a wiki?

A wiki is a collaborative Web site and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content.

With over 3,000,000 articles, Wikipedia, the online open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and likely the most well known of these knowledge-sharing tools.

For a brief explanation of wikis, view Commoncraft’s “Wikis in Plain English” here.

Wikis have several advantages over more traditional websites:

• Like a blog, a wiki allows you to edit with an easy to use interface. You do not need to know HTML or know how to use web page building software.
• Wikis are designed with collaboration in mind, so it is easy to add and link new pages.
• Wikis keep track of revisions made to each page.

Wikis and Libraries

Librarians are using wikis to collaborate and share knowledge. Wikis can be used for staff manuals, subject guides, and to manage projects. They are also used to produce: subject guides, pathfinders, and book review sites. For a list of library wikis and uses visit the Library Success Wiki and the Blogging Libraries Wiki.

Other Wikis

Wikipedia is not the only wiki out there. Some other examples of popular wikis include: wikiHow, Wiktionary, Wikitravel, and Music Wiki. 

Wiki Creation

A Brevard County Libraries 23 Things wiki has been created on Sharepoint. Wikis can be created through free web-based services such as: PBWorks, and Wikispaces.


Thing #8 Activity: Add to the Brevard County Libraries 23 Things Wiki

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Go to our SharePoint site and click on the 23 Things Tab.

2. On the left side menu, click Wiki.

3. Read the Brevard County Libraries 23 Things Wiki Introduction.

4. Post to at least one of the pages on the Brevard County Libraries 23 Things wiki: Thing 1, Thing 2, Thing 3, Thing 4, Thing 5, Thing 6, Thing 7, Our Favorite Blogs, Our Favorite Wikis, and/or General Comments.

Here's how:

Click one of the links on the wiki to add content.

Click Edit.

 Do NOT change the contents of the Name Box. 

Type your comment and your name under the last entry. Then click OK.

Very Important:  Please do not delete and change any existing content, only add your comment.



Optional Additional Resources:

To learn more about wikis, read What is a Wiki? from the Library Success wiki and the Wiki, wiki, wiki post from the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County.

For more about wikis in libraries, read Webjunction’s Using Wikis to Create Online Communities, and Wikis for Libraries.