[IUG] Internal wiki for III information summary

["Tomlinson, Andrea" <AndreaT at chemheritage dot org>]

Well I got some great feedback on using internal wikis for organizing
and sharing library policies, procedures, and local information in the
library.  A few people have asked me to share the information I found so
I am summarizing some of the highlights below:  Thanks to everyone who
responded, as usual the list is a great resource!

I was curious about what products people were using and got the
following responses:

7 libraries are using Mediawiki
<http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki> 
4 libraries are using Pbwiki <http://pbwiki.com/> 

Other products used include:
Wikidot <http://www.wikidot.com/> 
Dokuwiki <http://www.splitbrain.org/projects/dokuwiki> 
Dekiwiki <http://wiki.opengarden.org/Deki_Wiki> 
Confluence <http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence> 
Tiddlywiki <http://www.tiddlywiki.com/> 
Etouch samepage <http://www.etouch.net/products/collaboration> 
Simple machines
<http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?P=e9ef1976d29552da7fe
78351bd1636d6&type=rss;action=.xml> 

One person said they used the wiki that was included with Moodle.

Libraries are using wikis for many things here is a list of some of the
cool things people are doing with their wikis.

o	Using it to store information, files, forms, training materials,
policies, manuals and procedures
o	Used it as a central meeting place for staff with blogs,
calendars, forums, schedules and FAQs for staff
o	Keep information organized in a consortial setting
o	Organizing reference information for access services staff
o	Special projects (one library had 36 subwikis for all their
projects!)
o	One person used a wiki to organize her USB drive
o	Storing conference information and handouts

Everyone who responded was very happy with the wiki.  They seemed easy
to organize and get up and running.  Some wikis do require some
understanding of markup language or Java but most were easy for staff to
use.  Some respondents felt that it was hard to get staff motivated to
use the wiki and some stated that they either updated the wiki
themselves or had technical services staff update.  Many people said
people use the wiki but may not contribute.  Most of the wikis were
internal and not visible to the public.  The ones that were public were
locked down and did not allow editing.  Other issues brought to light
include lack of easy customization of the interface and some issues with
search results.

Also Margaret Peloquin shared a wonderful presentation she did with a
co-worker about the process of selecting and implementing a wiki.  It is
a great resource and can be found at
http://library.austincc.edu/presentations/scc-Oct07/


Andrea Tomlinson, MLIS
Technical Services Manager
Othmer Library of Chemical History
315 Chestnut Street 
Philadelphia PA 19106
andreat at chemheritage dot org
215-873-8257
Fax 215-629-5257  
 
Please visit our Web site:  www.chemheritage.org 
Tune in to our podcast: Distillations 
Check out our blogs: The Periodic Tabloid and The Collective Voice 
 


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