Discovery Exercise 1: Mining wiki resources

As librarians, we are skilled in finding and sharing information on specialized topics. Let's apply this to wikis.

Step 1: Locate one resource for each topic in the list below:

1. Wiki software or platform
2. Online resource/webpage about wikis
3. A journal article, book chapter or book about wikis
4. A library-related wiki
5. A health sciences-related wiki (medicine, nursing, dentistry, allied health, biomedical research/animal care)

TIPS:

• WikiMatrix.org provides a listing and comparison of wiki platforms, while Wikipedia has a list of wiki software.
• You can locate an article on wikis from a library journal in the LISTA or Library Literature database, or find a book on wikis in WorldCat. Commercial book sites like Amazon.com are another place to locate books on wikis. If you've read an article from a general magazine or journal on wikis, or a book on the topic, you can also use that.
• Refer to the Web 2.0 101 blog for links to websites about wikis, or try a Google or Yahoo search. Maybe there is a website you found extremely helpful in learning about wikis from the Web 2.0 101 class. Maybe you have heard of a medical or nursing website that has written an online column or blog about wikis.
• If your library has experimented with wikis for a project, or developed one for a department feel free to use it as an example, even if it is unavailable to the general public. There are also several general library wikis available.
• David Rothman has a growing list of HS wikis on his blog

Step 2: Briefly browse, read and evaluate each of the items you located for your topics. Consider the following questions. You may want to jot down some brief notes or comments, but it is not required.

• Which one was the most useful?
• Did you dislike any of them?
• What is the scope, purpose & authority of the resource?
• What challenges did you face implementing your library wiki?

Step 3: Make sure you record the 5 resources you select on scratch paper or in a document, as you will need them for the Cumulative exercise.

NOTE: You will not share or post all 5 resources with course members.