Thursday, October 4, 2007

Learning 2.0: Wiki Wiki Woo

As part of our Learning 2.0 project at my library, we both created and used a wiki as well as learned about wikis. What's a wiki? Simply, a wiki is a collaborative website. Once more and more professionals learn about wikis, I think they have great potential for collaborative work, planning presentations, long-term projects, etc.

Within the library or academia, I see great potential for wikis. I easily see potential because, unfortunately, I am physically separated from my colleagues but work on several projects with them. A wiki could be a great way to work on a long (or short) term project together, create and edit and paper, etc. Of course, our internal software SharePoint holds all of that same potential as well. But a wiki could be a great option for libraries or organizations unable to invest in a product like SharePoint.

I personally think they have great potential in our personal lives, too. This summer I started a family wiki for my husband's large extended family. It proved a great place to plan a beach trip. I also think it could be a great place to share birthday and Christmas gift wish lists, schedules, family photos, etc.

I tried to get my husband to start using a wiki for him and I. I'm still trying.

In terms of libraries, this was a great opportunity for me to finally take a look at several library wikis that I have been meaning to look at for a while. The BizWiki was quite impressive and I definitely plan on bookmarking that one for myself. It was also interesting to see the Minnesota staff wiki; pretty much exactly what we are doing with SharePoint here at my library.

No comments: