#16 Wikis

Well, I now know where the term "wiki" came from--never dreamed it was Hawaiian! I'm still not sure how I feel about them. I liked the video clip by Common Craft and can see that wikis can be easily managed and edited by more than just a select few. I think about all the many "meetings" that staff often have to participate in (with not enough time in the day) and wikis or blogs for that matter could take the place of all those meetings. The ability to edit material through the wikis is a real benefit over the blog and could save countless hours and emails (to say nothing of the trees!). I have to say though that I'm not sure how I feel about everyone being able to change the content (if it's set up that way) and in the case of Wikopedia--I wonder about the accuracy of the content.

As I looked at the different library wikis--St. Joseph County Public Library and the Library Instruction Wiki --I had lots of ideas whirling through my head. I think of all the many revisions and copies printed (and recycled) over the past two years as I have worked on revising the policy manual and job descriptions. Whew! A wiki would have been so much easier--and available for all staff to view. It would have also been much easier for supervisors and other staff to review and provide input on updating their job descriptions. But since I'm nowhere near finished, I may try this out!

I have made a note of the Memphis Public Library's Staff Development wiki that has a wealth of information and ideas that I would like to try out. They post their computer classes with PDFs of the handouts and online registration, a section on public internet computers, staff training opportunities and much more. I had an idea that we might want to try out with our staff training and orientation that we have been trying to develop and implement over the past several years. It may be that we can create an online training that staff (new and established) could participate in and complete by writing up something to show that they have completed the course--like distance learning. Hum--something else to think about!

There are so many possibilities and so little time--what to do?!?!? Guess I'd better get started!