Week 13 Notes

Charles Allan, “Using a wiki to manage a library instruction program: Sharing knowledge to better serve patrons, C&RL News, April 2007 Vol. 68, No. 4

Wiki is a multi-author collaborative effort so share information.

Can be used by librarians to demonstrate and manage library instruction programs.

Wiki’s can be used as a means of better information sharing, facilitate collaboration of resources and divide workloads among librarians.

Library instruction wikis serve to share information and for the ability to cooperate in creating resources like information handouts and guides.

Many free sites to build wikis are available; the option to upgrade for a fee is usually available also.

At East Tennesse State University the librarian will give instructional sessions for students that highlight specific topics they were asked to cover by the instructor or if a specific topic was not requested, they will give a general overview of information and resources.

Many times new information needs will become apparent during the course of the instructional period- the librarian can then post these needs to the wiki once the answer is found.

Storing information in the wiki about weak points of understanding that different professors or students may have, will let other librarians know to prepare for it and will give them the opportunity to have the solution ready.

Wikis can allow for quick updates to ever-changing information and directions on how to use resources

WIKIPEDIA VIDEO

Wikipedia is truly a global website. Many websites are accessible in different languages.

Only employee is one editor, rest are volunteers

Is more popular than New York Times

Over 90 servers in 3 locations

Stand by crew, 24 hours a day- due to volunteers who manage everything

Wikipedia has been proven to be more accurate than other encyclopedias

Wales says that controversy is not really an issue because most people understand the need for neutrality

Operates on a Neutrality Point of View to avoid controversy within community of Wikipedia contributors

There is software for contributors to immediately see who is editing the pages, so that they may quickly be reviewed for accuracy

On the “voting page” of Wikipedia, different peoples voices carry a different amount of weight.

Wales views himself as a monarch to protect the integrity of the information

Wikipedia (in some eyes) has an edge over textbooks because of its neutrality vs the inherit bias of textbooks

Wikibooks is a new project they are building on.

Digital Librarianship & Social Media: the Digital Library as Conversation Facilitator

Robert A. Schrier
Syracuse University
raschrie@syr.edu 

There is an awareness gap between the resources/holdings of digital libraries and the communities they serve

Most ppl use a search engine before they use a library search

There is more information available regarding digital resources and how to build it vs how to market it

The importance of librarians and their ability to communicate to the community the existence and  importance of resources has been undermined

The first principle for digital librarians is to listen and engage with users about their needs

Googlealerts, Twitter, Blogsites etc.. are all places to listen.

Many libraries have been failing because even when they use social media to communicate, they put the information out and do not engage or listen to the responses- this makes it seem as if the library does not care.

Trust must be developed by a desire to help people and answer their questions, rather than a desire to promote the library

“Establishing the digital library as an important participant in the knowledge community not only heightens the level of trustworthiness of the collection, it also builds a base of dedicated users that are able to talk to each other.”

Principle Three is transparency.  This allows users to contribute to the library and reinforces trusted relationships. 

The library needs to move away from the fear of negative response to their public image in order to accomplish this.

Principle Four is policy.  Policies should be written and implemented that state and enforce appropriate sharing behaviors, so as to not bring negative feedback to the library.

Principle 5 is Planning.  Many libraries create a social networking site and forget to maintain it.

To prevent this it should be included in the marketing and strategic plans.

“If digital libraries truly want to create a lasting and rewarding social media program, they need to think ahead about who will be responsible for creating content, maintaining the site, and responding to users when necessary.”

*ALA link did not work.

*NO MUDDIEST POINT FOR THIS WEEK!