Wikis

This was probably the most informative part of the individual project so far, just because wiki's are something I have of course seen and heard of on countless occasions, and even been offered to utilize in classes this semester, but still have yet to really understand the full wiki potential.  Since this is an area that I'm more apprehensive about, I spent a significant amount of time perusing through the links LIS 506 Web 2.0 page.  I found the "other library wiki examples" link to be particularly useful and clicked on several different categories, including the "Intranets" section as my eyes went straight the Albany Public Library's wiki.  I naturally was drawn to this as I graduated from SUNY Albany, and lived in the Albany area, and used their public libraries for several years.  This was a wiki created specifically for their library staff and communicated manager and staff meetings, as well as strengths and weaknesses of different areas of the library such as Children's services.  Overall, it seemed to be a good source of communication for the library staff.  I also took a look at the San Diego Librarians Wiki, which provided a place for librarians to post ideas and information on a variety of subjects such as book clubs crafts, and story time.  I also found the ALA Wiki: What I learned and what I’m doing with it link to be extremely helpful in understanding the purpose of a wiki, and what makes a wiki successful.  The author of this article is also the creator of Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki, which takes her article to the next level in explaining and providing resources for successful wikis in libraries.