Would anyone care for a Wiki Wacky Bowl? Okay, enough corny wiki jokes. I love that "wiki" is the Hawaiian work for "quick". If you know me, you know I love all things Hawaiiana. Ahhhh, enough daydreaming about the "Aloha Days."
Wikis are way cool. As many fellow Trekkers have said in their posts, it reminds me of a big editable blog post. Wikis were just coming out when I finished library grad school and I'm sure the University of Hawaii has incorporated it into their curriculum in some way. We used WebCT for a few classes and I think it was a precursor to a wiki.
My thoughts on the Discovery Resources: As much as I mildly hate to admit it, I go to Wikipedia from time to time for quick surface level info, overview of a topic or a basic definition. I always keep in mind to check the source notes at the bottom and keep aware of bias or other glaring inaccuracies that could pop up. But I'll tell ya, many times for patrons looking for obscure information, it can be the best first place to go and scroll down and look at their External Links and find more info from there. Many of these are good creditable websites like .gov and .edu. And it's often the quickest, straightforward place to get an author's listing of works and titles in chronological order. So those questions of "What comes next in the ....series are easily answered or are often just a click away. I'm always reading with a keen eye, but I think Wikipedia has come a long way since the beginning and it's editors are pretty on the ball.
The SJCPL Subject Guides (St. Joseph County Public Library system) Pathfinder Wiki was interesting in that the edit button said Librarians Only . And the Library Success: A best practices wiki requires an email for confirmation after stating it had been having vandalism problems. Just shows you some of the caveats of "edit-away" wikis. We all have to be on our best behavior for the greater good.
I also visit the ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) wiki quite frequently. They have lots of good stuff from lists of award books, to forums for posting program ideas. There isn't a lot there yet, but hopefully more people will contribute to make it a robust resource. I may even get up the nerve one day!
As far as practical applications for libraries - I could definetely see it being used for committee work right here in our own library system. Or even by department to link the different branches - Circ, reference and children's services all sharing tips and info.
In closing, I liked the Tech Trek wiki and your lists of lists! I had fun contributing.
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