Wiki Assignment

Assignment 1, Part 4

The library I have chosen to use is the library I work at. It is a public library that is part of a branched library system. As a branch library, when funds are limited, as they are now, the resources available to the staff dry up fairly quickly. The staff at the library consists of the Library Manager and the Branch Assistant, though on Tuesday and Thursday someone from the main library comes to drop off and pick up books. Patrons of the library are primarily people without much computer knowledge.

The library system I work for, the SGRL, has two separate wikis on both pbwiki and wetpaint; however, they are not generally used by patrons and are only sporadically used by staff (such as for specific programs, like the summer reading program). This is because the main form of communication between branches is through e-mail, which is perceived to be more secure and reliable (not to mention checked far more frequently).

Because of this, I took quite a bit of time contemplating this part of the assignment. As I narrowed down the available wikis, the primary concerns I had were with money and how long the wiki would take to create and maintain. Since the budget has been undergoing many cuts recently, it is important that the wiki be free. It is equally important that its upkeep not require much time or energy. I also considered whether or not the primary users of the wiki would be staff or patrons.

In the end, I decided that it would be best to market a library wiki to the pre-teens, teens and young adults that use the library as they seem to be the most likely to take an interest in and be able to utilize one. The goal of the wiki, then, would be to promote programs directed at the above age groups and also to provide a space for them to meet online and discuss books they might be interested in. It would be monitored and updated by the Branch Assistant as time permits. The wiki I would choose for my library would be Wetpaint. Not only does it meet the criteria I mention above, it is free, offers WYSIWYG editing (which enables even non-techies to work on the wiki), and does not have any ads (which might make it seem like our library was promoting products or services when we aren’t).