Wikis

A wiki - a web based collaborative tool - was invented by Wart Cunningham in 1995. His idea was to create web pages that would be readily revised by multiple users. Each participant becomes an author, with equal access and tools to shape a web site , provide text, rewrite and edit content, and integrate other visual or verbal aspects into the site.

The following two movies demonstrate basic principles of how wikis work:
Wiki in Plain English from YouTube created by CommonCraft and "Understanding how wikis work" from Atomic Learning .

Wikipedia is a wellknown open-community wiki- encyclopedia that is composed by multiple authors. To learn who can become an author, what the rules are, and what educators think about using information published in Wikipedia, read:
Exploring Wikipedia, Using Wikipedia as a research tool, Wikipedia vs. Paper Encyclopedias, Its strength and weaknesses, Contributing to Wikipedia and FAQ School or watch a YouTube movie What Is Wikipedia(8:43 min).

The advantages and disadvantages of the wikis are well explained by Lori Reed in her blog PLMC Core Competenies: Wiki, Wiki, Wiki:
"The wiki's users are potentially its authors. This means that when new information is discovered about a subject, it is quickly added to the collective knowledge base. Unlike a conventional encyclopedia, where editors have to find experts for different subject areas, and nothing gets published without their say-so, anybody can write a wikipedia entry." "The disadvantage a wiki has is ironically the same as its advantage. Being written by its readers, and having little in the way of editorial control, a wiki is prone to being subjective, or strongly influenced by opinion."

Uses of Wikis :

Wikis are widely used for sharing knowledge and information.

- Community Guide: RocWiki - People's Guide to Rochester that was created for people of Rochester, NY to share what they know and like about their city.

Library Success: A best practices wiki - a wiki that is created for the community of librarians, and any librarian can contribute to the page.

I have started to gather information and experiences from people, especially AIS alimni, about what they remember about the library. You can visit the site AIS Lib: What do you remember about your library and how it improved your life? and contribute to it by creating your page and leaving your memory on it. This is an example of a wiki open to public.

- Subject Guide:
SJCPL Subject Guide is created by St. Joseph County Public Library system as a library web page Editing can be done only by librarians.

- Conference Wiki :
Computers in Library 2009
AALL 2009 Conference

- Other:
You can use it for planning, collaborative editing, note-taking, presentations, and projects.
Read more in Wikis: A Beginner's Look

We use them at schools and in the library. Wikis allow all students in the class work on the same document. Even if the content is changed or replaced, the teacher can see every change made and track the author.

You can build your own wiki with Wikispaces or

practice different functions by doing activities listed in
Wbaisparents Wiki.