Grover 2.0

Wikis: Basic Tools and Strategies with Meredith Farkas
Slides

I knew I was going to like this presentation when Meredith used Muppet Wiki as an example of the ways users contribute information on these collaborative content management systems.

She also gave me one of the best explanations of 2.0 that I've heard, "perpetual beta." Love it.

Meredith used one of the wikis she's created, Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki, as an example for many of the features she described. I can't wait to get home and click through it more carefully.

I was also interested to learn about the ways wikis are working as in in-house information clearinghouses. Every time you've thought, "This should be written down somewhere!" is a wiki entry just waiting to happen. (Most in-house wikis are behind the firewall and can't be viewed or changed by patrons, so don't worry.) If you are going to start in in-house wiki, Meredith stressed the importance of training people to contribute. She explained that when a wiki creator is self-taught, she may have the tendency to believe that everyone she invites to contribute will be as enthusiastic and willing to take chances figuring things out as she was. Not an assumption that guarantees success.

Wikis aren't ideal for every resource sharing need, but are great for people/groups who have equal rights to content. It's vital to trust your community of users. Sharing=Good.

Meredith explained the pros and cons of wikis hosted on your server, (MediaWiki, PMWiki, Twiki, MoinMoin, XWiki, Confluence, etc.) and wikis hosted by the software company (PBWiki, WetPaint, SeedWiki, etc.) Obviously, the pro of having a wiki hosted by a software company is that you don't have to install, upgrade, etc. But they can be less flexible--offering fewer customizable options. Looking for the right wiki for you? Check out WikiMatrix!

As wikis really are all about community, Meredith stressed the need to be vigilant against the inevitable spam one will encounter and the many benefits of having an active community of users who will help police the site and maintain its standards.

I could go on and on about the many wiki-related enterprises I've been imagining all day. (Like if I had a time machine and could go back to the '90s and put up a wiki that would list all the places in Champaign/Urbana that would take checks and/or deliver food and then have those entries expanded on by other poor grad students. Let's just say my life might be different.)

But until I get my hands on a flux capacitor, the next 2.0 project I tackle may very well be a 21st-century wiki