wikis are not a one-size fits all solution
wikis are a lot like a content management system - lets lots of people collaborate on a website
no reason you have to know HTML to edit a wiki, although you can use HTML

easier to update subject guides because you can immediately modify them

started the ALA Annual wiki for the Chicago 2005 conference because she didn't know much about the conference or about Chicago
hundreds of people contributed

Intuit, IBM, car companies are all creating internal wikis but also to communicate with their customers
can build great, collaborative resources

all wikis start out as a single page
the way you add a new page is to create a hyperlink on the home page
can then start adding content

discussion pages for talking about issues related to the wiki
good place to note if you are going to delete something
some wiki software offers threaded comments - coming to mediawiki
history pages show every single version of each page

recent changes page is the one that shows all of the changes - watch this for spam

differences between wikis and blogs:
- when someone writes a blog post, they own that post; on a wiki, anyone can edit what you wrote
- in a blog, all posts are organized by reverse-chronological order; in a wiki can use any organizational scheme
- blog posts are permanent, even though they can be edited, don't normally edit them, though; wikis are constantly a work in progress
- blog posts are great for having a dialogue in the comments, but wikis really level the playing field

why wiki:
- easy to use
- web-based
- anyone can make changes
- findability
- many free and open-source wikis
- flexible and extensible

question about how to track changes like you can in Word
Meredith: can use the "recent changes" page to see exactly what was changed

why not wiki:
- too open (trust issues); if you absolutely don't want others to edit what you write; if you don't trust the people who will be editing it, then you don't want a wiki
- concerns about ownership of content
- disorganized; need to create a navigation structure before you take your wiki live; gives people structure for adding and finding content
- vandalism and spam; big problem, but manageable; uses the "Bad Behavior" plugin to control this (also works with some blog software); looks at the entity of the poster to block them

Examples of wikis:

Knowledge Management
- SUNY Stonybrook Health Science Library wiki
- University of Connecticut Library
- showed her staff "Public Services Wiki" at Norwich University
http://wiki.nulibrary.com/

Professional knowledgebase
- Lib Success wiki
- Library Instruction wiki
- Qwiki: Quantum Physics wiki

Wikis for planning conferences
- HigherEd BlogCon
- Five Weeks to a Social Library
- BarCamp
- PodCon

Wikis as websites
- Antioch University Library
- USC Aiken Library
- Bull Run Library
- SJCPL's Subject Guides

wikis are good for pages that are updated frequently
PLA TechNotes?
- showed Matt Gullett's test on the LibSuccess wiki for anyone to edit

great for when you want to hear from users
- resource guides
- feedback spaces
- book reviews
- area guides

examples:
- ProductWiki
- Princeton PL's Book Lover's wiki
- Ohio University Libraries wiki
- wikiXbox360
- Wyoming Authors wiki

area guides becoming popular:
- DavisWiki

question about setting up navigation
Meredith showed Ohio U's BizWiki to show how you can create categories
can assign multiple categories to things

question: should wikis stay focused on a topic, as opposed to blogs?
Meredith: yes, a wiki has to be about "something" - need to have a specific focus

people can add topics as well as content

question about culture of wikis - letting users interact with specific articles but not change the article itself
Meredith: blog might be better for that, although you could use a wiki by protecting article but letting users talk about article on the "discussion" page

wikis that build community:
- ICANN
- Tax Almanac wiki (created by Intuit); has forums (giving away the code to add forums to mediawiki)
- Mandriva Club (integrated free forum software into the wiki)

lots of conference wikis, especially in the library world

- grassroots feel makes for a better-used wiki
- need dedicated wiki managers, but also need dedicated wiki contributors

can use Wikipedia's guidelines as a model
ALA could ask library students to monitor/police the wikis
better if non-ALA staff are the ones to remove inappropriate content

conference wiki elements
- listing of all programs
- tips
- calendar of events
- information about local area
- social elements
- attendee blogs (new extension for mediawiki that lets any registered user have a blog)
- conference tag
- forms
- chat (can embed in wiki pages)

could involve the presenters; could ask speakers questions
can also be used to list unconference-like events

attendee schedules and profiles in Internet Librarian 2006 wiki

during the conference
- announcements
- conference reports

after the conference
- feedback from attendees about conference
- feedback from attendees about wiki
- continued dialogue

question: can you post something twice, once protected and once open for modification? others could add their own versions?
Meredith: Wikipedia is doing this with some entries; could definitely let others link to their own versions they create

question about using wikis instead of ALA's Online Communities product
- could work in some instances not all because some groups (like publications committees) need to be private

question about accessibility of wikis
Meredith: not sure but mediawiki should be accessible because of Wikipedia

question about keeping wikis private
Meredith: definitely doable, both for authors and viewers

question about moving content from wikis members have already started to the ALA server
Meredith: can definitely do that, just have to be aware of different formatting syntaxes

how to develop and maintain a successful wiki

there is a WYSIWYG plugin for mediawiki
will just be built in for future releases
plugin for different permissions for user groups
- e.g., could use permissions feature for letting speakers upload files
Meredith: don't even need the extension for that; can just use user groups

skins make the wiki look pretty
can require email authentication before editing when requiring registration

seeding tips
- no one wants to add to an empty wiki
- people often don't know what to add
- add some content to the major categories before going live
- creating an organizational scheme will prevent orphan links and chaos

steal documentation from Wikipedia

content development
- do lots of marketing
- bloggers
- email lists and forums
- publications (an article in American Libraries?
- partner with groups related to your mission
- give the wiki a grassroots feel, make it welcoming
- make it feel like the members' wiki, not ALA managements' wiki (give a feeling of ownership)

management
- security (require registraton?)
- dealing with spam
- dealing with trolls/flamers (what is inappropriate versus what you don't like)
- find lots of dedicated helpers

Mary Ghikas explained the three rules for the New Orleans wiki based on legal advice
- no politics (which for ALA, has a specific meaning because of tax status)
- no organizing of boycotts and the like
- be nice

try to be as transparent as possible
make sure there is no red on the home page before announce your wiki

need a logo that is 135 x 135 jpg or gif for ALA wikis
shared CSS file but can embed inline HTML or CSS