Thing #12 Wikis

What did you find interesting about the wiki concept?
I found wikis interesting when I first heard about them years ago. In my former life where we were hiring people straight out of college, who were not native to Jacksonville, I thought a wiki would be a great idea. I envisioned it as a place where people could store their knowledge of Jacksonville and others could find it and use it. The drawbacks were trying to entice employees to do "one more thing," and the thought that after all of their hard work, someone with less knowledge, could delete or edit their information.

What types of applications within libraries and schools might work well with a wiki?
There seem to be many group projects given in school now. Many times it is difficult for parents to drive their kids to a friend's house because they are at work or their child has other commitments after school. Time is valuable. I think it would be a good idea for kids to work together on a couple of projects using wikis. I also think it would help with the problem of one kid doing the majority of the work assigned. By using a wiki the teacher could readily see who did what. I think it's a great idea.

Many teachers/faculty "ban" Wikipedia as a source for student research. What do you think of the practice of limiting information by format?
I am a professional researcher. I love research and when I have worked on subjects that I know nothing about I have started with Wikipedia. I do not stake my reputation on it. I do not take it as the gospel truth. I simply use it as a starting point to get keywords or to get a basic understanding of the topic at hand. More often than not it has been helpful and accurate.
I don't think it's a good idea to ban it. I think we should teach kids about it and make it a lesson in sourcing. Find things that are inaccurate and show them how easy it is to manipulate and change things on Wikipedia. What a great opportunity.

Which wiki did you edit?
I edited our pb wiki. I just added my 2 cents. I also kept the email notification on so I could see when it was being edited. It was cool to know people were working on it and to wonder what the final outcome will look like.