CCLS 23 Things #15: So what’s in a wiki?

I have never created or participated in a wiki, but I had looked at a few of these before, e.g., "Library Success: A best practices wiki" and the "SJCPL Subject Guides," when reading other articles or books about online resources for libraries.

The wikis that I really liked, and that seemed perfectly suited to the format, were the community-based sites, such as RocWiki and the Ann Arbor wiki. These seem to replicate the way we find out about community resources in the "real" world, by asking friends and neighbors.

As far as library applications for a wiki, I have been thinking of using one for our circulation manual. We already have the circ manual and the reference manual online, so they are easily accessible and searchable. But the wiki would enable each department to add and edit, customizing for their own procedures.