#14 Wikis

Wikis look like a great idea for the consummate community organizer.

I looked at a number of the examples in the exercise. Those which I thought were most successful were the guides to community resources and events (Rochester, NY; Stevens Co., WA)--set up by a highly motivated cultural or tourism committees perhaps?--as well as the library staff manuals and the subject research guides. I wasn't impressed by Bull Run library website, which itself was set up as a Wiki: it came out looking patchy and unprofessional, but I did think that Princeton PL's Booklovers' Wiki was a terrific idea.

I think that for the library, the best use of Wikis would be subject research guides by staff and book reviews (either by staff or dedicated patrons or both). They'd take a lot of work, but done right should bring a lot of interest to the website. Wikis should also work well for ongoing in-house instructions/guidelines/training documents like staff manuals, best practices, etc. where particular staff members have responsibilities for the texts and updates in their work areas.