Wonderful Wikis

Greetings!

This is the last assignment for the first semester of ProjectPlay! and a reflection on wikis and their usefulness to public libraries - this one in particular. Wikis are an open, interactive, collaborative way of having conversations where input from everyone helps create a better product than any one individual could create. Wikis are like a lot of the other tools we've been exploring this semester in that they require a high degree of trust. You have to trust those who choose to interact with your wiki or blog or those who tag. Moving away from an authoritative model -- where such things as "authority control" are considered good -- to a wide-open, highly subjective model is frightening to some and exhilarating for others. And where you land on that continuum between fright and euphoria probably depends on how much you trust the public and how much you believe in the wisdom of the crowd. It will come as no surprise to my readers that I come down on the euphoric exhilarating end of the continuum. Many will say this is because I'm an idiot and don't learn from previous bad experiences with the public. But I am a true believer in democracy and believe that as a general rule the larger the number of participants, the better the decision ( recent general elections proving the exception, rather than the rule). So, inviting more people to the party will only make the party better. I have seen a wiki used for creating a strategic planning document with good effects. I have heard of libraries attempting to use one for delivering library board packet information -- which would probably work as long as board members didn't do any editing thereby creating an on-line quorum and thereby breaking open meeting law. Wikis seem a perfect venue for getting feedback and suggestions from all library staff around policies. Front line staff often have a better take on the implications of a policy and how it might play out, then the library board or administration. I think a wiki could also be used to update a strategic plan. The document could be put out there with comments about how implementation is progressing. The public would then make comments and suggestions about how to achieve those goals-- and, gasp!, even if those goals make sense. This would be a way to check to see if the public perception (that the goals have been achieved) match the library director's. Participatory libraries is what I believe the next iteration of the public library is all about. Library 2.0 will really put the public in public libraries. I can't wait to try out all the things I've learned this semester !

Ciao!