WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WIKIS! Presented by Becca McGuire and Kate Rojas Instructional Technology and Design Office

What is a Wiki? A group of web pages that can be edited by any user A collaborative, interactive website that is created and edited by many authors No top-down command structure Users can add new information edit previous authors’ submissions allow their users to compare previous versions of its pages track who wrote or edited what and when Fun fact: wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian

Why Use Wikis? Easy to use Usually don’t need any knowledge of html, xml, or other text markup language Web-based No other apps needed Anyone can make changes, and they can be constantly updated Many are free and open-sourced Encourage collaboration Easy to link to related pages

Parts of a Wiki All wikis start off as a single blank page Pages are created and connected by hyperlinks WikiLink: hyperlink whose destination is a different wiki page No ownership of pages; anyone can change the work of others Recent and relevant changes to the wiki are shown Discussion section Users can login to make changes can create homepages, track their involvement

Wikis Vs. Blogs Wikis Content is not owned by anyone Anyone can edit anyone else’s work Organization is done through hyperlinking Work in progress (information changes!) Good for collaboration Blogs Blog author owns their posts Only authors can edit their work Others can only comment Organization is usually in reverse chronological order Posts usually remain static Good for starting dialogue and information dissemination

Wiki Syntax Also known as wiki markup Commonly used to write in wikis Some wikis will use HTML format, but others will only accept wiki syntax. This can get complicated in use of charts and graphs Wikipedia has an excellent guide to basic wiki syntax here: Examples * Asterisk makes bullet points 3 apostrophes will ‘’’bold the text’’’ 2 apostrophes will ‘’italicize text’’

Choosing a Wiki Host Different wiki systems have varying capabilities Look at cost and domain name hosting Content management: some can only handle words and images, others can handle additional content such as videos, calendars, and instant messaging Look and feel: different wikis have different layouts Permissions: some systems let you assign different user privileges Security: look at which wikis are larger targets for spam, vandalism, and collapse

Examples of Wikis Media Wiki Free, open-source Simple to navigate Users can make their own page Product of Wikimedia, which is a nonprofit under Wikipedia Confluence Wiki GSLIS staff use this Costs money Very secure, need log-in and added privileges Rich text formatting Wiki Spaces Easy to use, often used in school libraries Very secure: only invited members can edit content Has a discussion forum

Local Wikis Provide wide variety of community information Organizations and services Local history and culture Restaurants, events, and entertainment Local landmarks and places of interest that might not be well known Encourage collaboration and community ownership Anyone can contribute; can represent different perspectives Examples of local wikis: Champaign-Urbana Wiki: cuwiki.netcuwiki.net Davis, California Wiki: daviswiki.orgdaviswiki.org Great example of the potential of local wikis Community involvement and ownership; played important role in Occupy Protests Challenges: Getting community involved, sustainability, representing diverse views, providing unique information not found elsewhere

Libraries and Wikis Communication between staff and patrons Collaboration between libraries A way to share resources, book lists, and book reviews There can be: community wikis (ex: subject guide wikis (ex: courseware wikis (ex: GSLIS Moodle staff Intranet wikis (ex: best practices wikis (ex: ) reference-interview-helper wikis (ex:

Additional Wikis for Librarians Youth Services Librarianship Wiki: ALA Wiki: LIS Wiki: EBook Lending Libraries Wiki: Educational Wikis: al+wikis al+wikis Wikisource: Wikibooks: Wikijunior:

Reliability of Information Consider Wikipedia as a source Usually frowned upon in academia? Things to consider: Credibility and quality of information Will users need to be approved or to create an account before having the right to edit? Copyright/Academic Honesty How will users cite their sources if their contributions are paraphrased from other sources? Asking for permission References listed at bottom of each page

It is important to have someone monitoring updates to the wiki to make sure no un factual or inappropriate information is posted However – make sure not to monitor it to the point that people are afraid to post Do research before beginning a wiki because it is hard to transfer over to something else Make a concrete plan about how the wiki will be managed and handled. Define the wiki’s goals Make sure the wiki is continually edited and does not become a stable product Aim for consistency DO’s and DON’Ts

Resources! Questions? Thanks for attending! Please leave feedback via link on Moodle Home Page! ITD Contact Information or Becca: Kate: Handout by Educause - 7 Things You Should Know about Wikis: