Thing 12 Wikis

The Wiki concept is good for "public" collaboration issues and subject guides. I can see limited uses for instructional material. The weakness of the wiki is in the editorial control and the fact that I may not want the entire web world to view every word or dicussion I have with someone else. I enjoyed browsing through some entries on the LIS Wiki--especially the "Annoyed Librarian" Blog. I am considering developing a new Wiki for Librarians titled "Between a Rock and a Hard Place--Survival of Librarians During a National Economic Downturn."

Wikipedia, by its very nature of being a publically edited entity limits its credibility for scholarly research. It falls under the old saying, "Don't believe everything you read!" There are times when you want to limit information by format so that the credibility is intact.

I edited the NEFLIN 23 Things Wiki. You can find my post under my blog name: FYI 23Things!

Thing 2. What is Web 2.0

Okay, I get it. Obviously the web has become more sophisticated. Users are using it like previous generations used the phone, radio, and television for business and communications. We need to go out and seek our users and communicate with them through these tools--blogs, wikis, chat, virtual sites. However, I do have a problem with sites such as Second Life. Although one can sign-up for a free "basic" SL account. SL now charges for "real estate" to establish your building or site on their site. What happens when they start to charge users for basic sign-ups? I predict this will come with time. I feel if we are to be effective in reaching out to people (via these new tools) then we should be able to choose the free ways to communicate. Not everyone can afford to purchase a site on SL. Also, some people would rather deal with the "real" world rather than a "virtual" world when they do communicate. I think, as librarians, we should give serious thought and focus on what type of tools we use to reach out to patrons. I agree with the free chat, wikis, and blogs, and whatever else technology comes up with in the future--as long as it is free and open to everyone. If the "virtual world" decides to market itself with "land" and "buildings" free of charge then we should put time and effort into this. We need to be able to communicate with our patrons and they communicate with us without us having to purchase yet another site in another place. We have a variety of tools that are free of charge. Let us use them until better and freer "virtual sites" come along.