Third Challenge

I've been using wikis for a while now, just for my own edification. After I saw Casino Royale, for example, I wanted to find out how the movie differed from the book. And a few weeks ago, I visited my Inner Geek and re-read an old fantasy series called the Belgariad, and while re-reading, wanted to find out about a character in the series. For both of these needs, wikis (specifically Wikipedia) were the best answer because I knew I could probably find extended entries with all the information I would need - faster than finding a bunch of different fan sites. That's the best thing about wikis, for me -the ability to quickly find a lot of information all in one place. It's amazing sometimes what's out there that isn't necessarily in a subscription database. Last year after I read "The Devil in the White City" I really wanted to know what happened AFTER the world's fair - and I found a lot of information about the fair and about Holmes in Wikipedia.

I expect I'll continue to use wikis in this way - though I'd still be a bit wary of using a Wiki to answer a patron question. That's still the controversial thing about this technology - the idea that anyone can edit it, and whether that ability makes it a more or less authoritative source. My answer to that? "It depends..." As far as how RCPL could use wikis, the obvious answers would be on an intranet for a sort of staff-only quick-FAQ about library policies, or for the policies/procedures manual. I thought that what the Bull Run Library did was interesting - using a wiki as their main web page - I like that idea (means, potentially, that all employees can be responsible for adding content, without investing in an expensive content-management system),but I don't know that we would go in that direction.

Trying to edit the sandbox wiki was a little confusing - I can see why some people might be leery of trying it. But I did add a line, and added the library URL to the sidebar.