Thing #16: Wikis

After looking at some of the library-related wikis I can see that wikis are a useful tool for libraries. The question is when to use them. If a library system is comfortable with the idea of letting all of its staff or even any member of the public to edit content then a wiki would be an easy way of making information available. On the other hand, if the ability to edit a wiki is going to be limited to select staff members then a wiki is not necessarily an easier format than some of the alternatives. A lot of the information found in OPL's SamePage could be done in wiki format, but if the only staff members who were allowed to edit that wiki were the same ones who are currently allowed to edit content in SamePage there would be no point in using a wiki instead. But I can see the usefulness of something like the BookLoversWiki, especially if everybody on the staff, and everybody in the general public, is allowed to add their own book reviews. It's a question of trust. Goodness knows Wikipedia works much better than I ever would have expected it to.