Wikis, Blikis and You

AALL Annual Meeting, Program K-4Beyond the Blog: RSS, Wikis and Blikis

Presented by Debbie GinsbergElectronic Resources Librarian

IIT Downtown Campus Library (Chicago-Kent College of Law)

dginsberg@kentlaw.edu

Is this a Wiki?

What is a Wiki?

A wiki … is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content.

[cont.]

What is a Wiki?

Wiki also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website[.]

The name was based on the Hawaiian term wiki wiki, meaning "quick" or "informal".

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

The WikipediaOne of the largest and best known wikishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Researching with Wikis

Find background information Locate useful sources Research current issues

JurisPediaIncludes law from several countries From: http://jurispedia.org/

Research caveats

May not be complete, accurate, up-to-date Unknown resource – can you trust wikis? Is there a relevant wiki?

LawSchool WikiA great idea: share community information about the law school. But it is no longer updated.From: http://bostoncoop.net/law

Libraries use wikis

Teach bibliographic instruction Answer reference questions Provide other library services (e.g.

ereserves)

Butler WikiRef This wiki reviews references resources From: http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/butler_wikiref/

Library caveats

Librarians must provide content Patrons may not be familiar with wikis Wikis suffer from the same problems as

other online forumsSpamVandalism In-fighting

Create your own Wiki

Self-hostedUser installs and maintains the softwareMost require MySQL and PHP or PearlCustomizable

Web-hostedEasy to set upNot as customizable

Self-hosted software

MediaWiki – used by Wikipedia (http://wikipedia.sourceforge.net/)

DoKuWiki (http://wiki.splitbrain.org/wiki:dokuwiki)

MoinMoin – popular wiki engine (http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de/) (uses Python)

Wikitravel uses MediaWikiFrom: http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page

Web-hosted software

XWiki – a free wiki service (http://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome)

JotSpot – a for-pay wiki service (in beta) (http://www.jotspot.com/)

Example of a wiki editing interfaceNote the syntax on the rightFrom: http://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/edit/Main/WebHome?language=en&

What is a bliki?

A Bliki (also known as a WikiLog, WikiWeblog, Wikiblog, or Bloki), is a blog with wiki support. This means that after (or before) an article is posted to the blog, it can be edited, either by anyone or by some group of authorized users.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bliki

Tao Of MacSome links are external, others are internal pages with additional explanationFrom: http://the.taoofmac.com/space/blog/2005-06-11

Wrap Up

Lots of wikis, and a few blikis, on tech and other subject areas, but few on law

Few library wikis or blikis Can law librarians take the initiative?

Legal research wikiLibrary services wikis Intranets

Useful and Interesting Wikis

Meatball (http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl) Includes a list of the biggest wikis

Wikinews (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page)

Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org) Largest and most comprehensive wiki

Law and Library Wikis

ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki (http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page)

Lawrence Lessig's Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (http://codebook.jot.com/WikiHome)

Youth Rights Wiki (http://www.youthrights.net/index.php?title=Table_of_Contents)

References

Wikis at Work: How does an IT consulting firm bring wikis into the business loop?, Sebastian Rupley, PC Magazine, January 2005, p. 90

Using a Wiki for Documentation and Collaborative Authoring, Michael Angeles, Nov. 28, 2004, available at (http://www.llrx.com/features/librarywikis.htm)

Quickiwiki, Swiki, Twiki, Zwiki and the Plone Wars, by David Mattison, Searchers, April 2003, p. 32

More at http://library.kentlaw.edu/dginsberg/wikis/