Wiki world...

Thing 16

Wiki's are nice. They might even be better than blogs. But I would not use a wiki to find specific facts or scholarly information. I have had several students tell me they are not allowed to use Wikipedia for any reports. The teachers do not consider it to be reliable. I agree. If everyone in the world can go into it and make changes it is bound to have mistakes or information that is too subjective in it.
I liked the Book Lovers' wiki. I can see any library using that as a way for people to comment on their favorite books. Maybe we could set one up for "The Big Read"?
The subject guide wiki from St Joseph Co. Public Library was good. But I wonder how many librarians actually contribute to it? Do just a few people end up having to keep it going and up-to-date?
The New Orleans ALA wiki was very good. It was helpful for those who needed to know what they were supposed to be doing and finding out where things were.
So wiki's are good for large groups of people to be able to contribute to a specific topic and keep it up-to-date.
Finally I like the word wiki because it is an actual real word from Hawaii meaning to go quickly...wiki wiki!