Wee Willie Wiki

Wow! Leelefever has done it again… great video to explain the wiki!

As one type of library application, I find the Subject Guide Wikis especially useful; I've always thought that Pathfinders were one of the most helpful resources for library patrons and these Wiki Pathfinders are great.
I explored the SJCPL Subject Guides Wiki. I chose to look at Books: Biography and Memoir. I was impressed with the scope of this wiki… I think it would be very valuable for library patrons. Among some of the items that caught my eye:

•Link to A&E TV’s Biography website
•Link to Biography of the Day site (which was, by the way, Merce Cunningham… I didn’t know who he was but learned that he is an avant-garde dancer, choreographer who has collaborated with people such as Andy Warhol….see, you learn something everyday!)
•Links to the library catalog and featured biographies
•There were a helpful definition of terms; biography, autobiography and memoir.
Autobiography is the story of someone's life, written by themselves. It also is
supported by documentation. Memoir is sometimes considered the same as
autobiography, but it is less formal, less well-documented, and often, about only a
segment of a person's life. (I found this interesting.. don’t think I’d actually
thought of the distinction).
•Jounaling and Scrapbooking resources…. Nice!

I saw an interesting example of one of the negatives of Wiki: vandalism and spam. On the Library Success: A best practices wiki, I was met with this alert at the top of the page:
“Update! Because of vandalism problems, e-mail confirmation is now required. Please enter your e-mail address when you create an account and you will be sent a link to confirm your address (after which you will be able to edit the wiki).”

The Readers’ Advisory Category of the Library Success Wiki looked like a great resource that I will explore further. Also, the Services to Specific Groups category had many links about different populations. In particular, I was interested in Services in a Multilingual Environment. http://libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Services_in_a_Multi-lingual_Environment

Another application that would be valuable in the library is a Community Wiki (like RocWiki http://rocwiki.org) with info about places and events in the community.