Wikis

The lesson on wikis has given me alot of ideas for things we could do at the State library of New South Wales. Looking at next generation catalogues was a way to see how others were using this technology. One that stood out for me was the Hennepin County Library 'Bookspace'. The wiki on book clubs is something we could do right now including links to book clubs linked to public libraries for example. This would be a place where members could share ideas for books, running meetings, questions and to see what others are doing.

Hennepin put their e-resources and websites into context nicely and then linked browsers to the place to sign in--very well done, I thought.

Another application for libraries would be procedure manuals. Easy and quick to update and very accessible.

I have used a wiki to plan collaboratively for shared projects. This would be a useful way to work on projects across the Library. We could use wikis to carry out a dialogue with our clients about our services and developing services or to provide information to clients as in some of the university sites.

I am going off to verify some facts about my LGA before adding to the Wikipedia entry which is rather sparse!

It has been an eye opener to see how some libraries are using pictures. I still think PictureAustralia is right up there. While I have seen some terrific photos in this lesson, the best come (predictably) from sites like libraries and museums where collections are selected for inclusion. Flickr has the entire range from the snapshot to the institutional archive, so its uneven and unpredictable content is interesting. You could waste alot of time looking without knowing what you are looking at!

I chose a terrific photo from Flickr to put up to demonstrate the value of teamwork. It is a couple carrying and sharing the weight of a bag. Teamwork is essential in all we do as we can lock into the strengths of others and collaborate to obtain a better outcome. That is at the basis of the Learning 2.0--including others in what we are doing instead of setting up barriers between us.

I hope I can manage to add that photo when I finish this post! (Thanks so much to Anie for her help today if she sees this.) (Unfortunately I could not find the photo again on Flickr, so even though I had saved it successfully I could not use it--I had not managed to also save the details about it so I could credit the photographer. Therefore I have put up another picture demonstrating teamwork--a good one too, I think.)

From a service perspective I think it would be interesting to host discussion groups concerning images from historical periods, places or for example of subjects like architecture around Mt Wilson or Garden history or similar. People could be encouraged to put images fitting the subject onto a notice board or ? for discussion, dating and to obtain information from others. This could be carried out at amateur or expert level or for enthusiasts of any level.

Railway history buffs would find such a discussion group fascinating, for example. Another interesting idea would be a for book groups to do research and find images from the period, place, topic or people they find their featured book--it could be a way to add depth and meaning to their discussion.