Week #7- Wiki

“Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” -Michael Scott (Steve Carell), The Office.

This week's topic is wikis, which many people use, but don't know that they are using it. I like wikis for what they allow, user input and flexibility. But, caveat emptor, (Latin-let the buyer beware), what you see is what you get. As Wikipedia found out after the episode,"The Negotiation" aired and their site was flooded with activity. (Not all of it good).

The wiki that we have for staff use is good but it is not the first place that I usually look. I think that a lot of staff aren't using regularly, not because we don't like it, because we are still stuck in our "old ways".

I think the the library could use wikis in a similar way as Durham County. We could ask for patron input about the library, (how did you enjoy such and such program, etc). Of course, there would have to be some control over what things are considered acceptable and what are not.

Another way we could use wikis is similar Shelfari and other sites, that allow you to add author information. If we wanted to do brief bios about authors or even Henrico County and library history. There are many ways to use wikis.