Thing #16--The Great Thing About Wikis...

I really thought the "Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki" was especially informative. It was nice to see a large group of a variety of librarian "best practices" all located in one easy-to-find spot. I've found that I come across a lot of really helpful, ingenious, and great ideas in my school readings, but often lack one central, specific spot to turn to for great ways to incorporate technology in the library setting. I also thought it was great to include an RSS feed from this site so that you can get breaking updates as they occur (and reminders to keep focused on the many different ways librarians can utilize technology). Everything from information on upcoming conferences, tips for Reader's Advisory, and ways to upkeep professional organizations as well as collaborate with other information professionals was all a click away. I bookmarked this wiki site and I know that I will continually reference it in the future. A great find!

I also see the advantages of using wikis in the collaborative format between teachers and librarians. I thought that the teacherlibrarianwiki was an especially creative way to publicize some important issues such featuring copyright laws, social bookmarking sites, and various reading booklists for faculty and staff within a school library media center. I like that teachers can take an active role in using wikis not just for sources of information from the librarian, but also to provide feedback on policies, procedures, and practices (and request a librarian assistance in cross-curriculum planning, etc). Similarly, I was impressed by the individual teachers who have set up wikis as part of their learning process in classes. I definitely think wikis serve as an excellent instructional tool, especially when it comes to requiring participation from users (students and other teachers). (I wish my AP History teacher used a wiki...how much time would have been saved on group collaborative projects!).

Also, as mentioned in the readings, I can definitely see using wikis in the library staffing sense. In fact, I see wikis possibly replacing (if not reducing) the length and number of necessary staff meetings! Using wikis in the workplace would save the tedious time and effort involved in constantly emailing updated attachments. Instead, staff members could visit a workplace wiki to edit, change, delete specific work-related documents, or possibly even check for workplace updates and scheduling announcements. I hope the library where I eventually work use a wiki! Forget the doughnuts and coffee (although I'll miss that), could wikis replace the traditional staff meeting? Now that might be nice...

All in all...
(from Flickr:lordtedbear)