How to Develop and Use a Wiki in Your Library

Are you thinking about taking the plunge into the globe of net 2. with your library and building a wiki? I not too long ago put with each other a successful wiki for my college library and so I would like to share some success guidelines for how to do it effectively.

1. Which wiki platform are you going to use? This is essential for the reason that there are hundreds of them out there and they all differ in terms of ease of use, price, and setup as effectively as the ability to handle who can view your wiki as nicely as who can post to your wiki.

2. Do you want to use your wiki exclusively as a method of organizing and altering material on your web-site? Or do Hidden wiki url want to use the wiki to permit your patrons to interact with every single other?

3. What is the precise objective for your wiki? To communicate among library employees? To communicate with your patrons? To let your patrons communicate with each other?

four. What content material are you going to consist of on your wiki? Just hyperlinks to other pages on your library web website, a searchable library catalog, information about library classes and events, well-liked books, news and announcements or other products?

5. Do you want to pay for a wiki service or do you want to use a cost-free wiki?

6. Is there a tech help particular person available to enable you set up your wiki and to assist with some periodic upkeep? If not, do you have a librarian who can take charge of the wiki and its updates and the technological side of maintaining a wiki? A wiki is a lot less complicated to use and preserve up with on a common web page, even so, you cannot just put it up and under no circumstances invest time operating on it.

7. It also assists if you can create some wiki precise content. In our case we made subject pages for every of the main subjects taught at our college and integrated links to databases, magazines, books, ebooks, specialized encyclopedias and web sites for each topic. We also have our library news and policies amongst other things of interest to our patrons on our wiki. You want to give your patrons a explanation to study the wiki and to use it.

eight. Wikis are a single of the technologies of the future and as far more and much more libraries and other companies begin applying them, it is to your benefit to understand how to use 1 and to make a decision if it is appropriate for your library.