http://www.librfaryforlife.org/subjectguides/
m.kruppa@sjcpl.org
St. Joseph County Public Library
1996 subject guides were really cool - welcome to library here's a
bunch a places to go that is not in this library! Led patrons away
from the library instead of highlighting resources in-house.
KCPL subject guides - cool model, focused on library stuff, cool RSS
feeds
teen site a wiki!! The Hotlist should be a wiki!! so librarians
decided to create guides to emphasize what the library had to offer.
Homework help, all the things
http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Homework
have a sandbox server. play around - use for testing, not break things.
Don't call it a wiki because of the technophobes. Only refer to it as
the "subject guides"
Patrons can make comments
Circulation staff went crazy - created circulation policy manual
Fully collaborative and minimal training, couldn't break it...
--------------------------------
Chad Boeninger
Internet Librarian
A Wiki as a Research Guide
Ohio University Libraries
Reference Librarian
Used to have typical research guides, Long list of Stuff, etc., etc.,
It's the way we've always done it!
More room for content and nuggets - "nuggets of information literacy"
i.e. "this is coming from a company so there will be bias" Instead of
lecturing about information literacy
The Biz Wiki all keyword searchable, link related resources, non-
cataloger way of doing keyword to subject heading linkings
What is in it?
Key reference resources
Guides to common question
Definitions
Cheat the system and refer people to things that you can't get/do in
a catalog
Wiki's make excellent teaching tools. Replace handouts, easy to
update, always available to the patron...
Industry Research Basics - to Business School Grad Students, Teaching
them about the resources, things that might limit their access to
info. Since creation, hit 7,700 times, been hit many times after the
initial class. Allows students to come back to the resource later...
Marketing Assignment 379 - Link to resources to use....
Before the assignment - hit 852 times, 50 people in the class.
On the fly content -
email question
respond to patron
similar question again
use content of question to create wiki article
create wiki page - "import and export regulations" - 828
Media Wikis.... can see how often the page has been hit.......
Can see popular pages and how often they are hit,.
Challenges - getting others to contribute - in reality nobody really
contributes...
more content = more maintenance
maintaining organization and stgructure with growth of content?
difficult to see new content.
SPAM is real problem with fully open wiki - if anyone wants to edit,
they have to ask.
Extends the reach of the librarian - user needs info 24 hours a day
makes information and knowledge more accessible
contribution to the community.
WIKIS TAKE TIME!!!
Wiki can save time, though in the end and make you a better and more
effective librarian.
Don't be surprised if usage is different than expected. don't expect
to be cool because you have a wiki. - They do appreciate it.
Gather more measurable input. record usage of library resources....
Replaced reference blog with reference wiki. hosting by library puts
in center of learning community
boeninger@ohio.edu
