Wikis: Tools for Information Work and Collaboration

Citation

Ellis‐Barrett, L. (2007), "Wikis: Tools for Information Work and Collaboration", Library Review, Vol. 56 No. 9, pp. 838-840. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530710831347

The term Wiki has in recent years become synonymous with Wikipedia which is perhaps the most well‐known online encyclopaedia of the 21st century. Without doubt, Wikipedia has had a huge impact on library and information services and the study skills of many students and academics. Those who have not used it cannot have failed to have heard of it particularly due to the prevalence of recent news coverage debating its pros and cons and interviewing some of the contributors. However there is more to Wikis than can be found in Wikipedia and there are more Wikis than this one.

Wikis, on a rudimentary level, are social software – they are collections of inter linked documents and files. They are accessed by web browsers and when in the public domain they can be collectively and collaboratively edited by their users. The first Wiki was created in 1995 by Ward Cunningham and was known as the Portland Pattern Repository. This Wiki was developed to cater for the needs of a very small community of software developers and still exists. Small, specific Wikis such as this became very popular in small software development communities because they were quickly found to be a very helpful and efficient method of information sharing. The technical development of Wikis soon followed once the software had been made publicly available on the Internet.

Klobas explains in greater detail the birth and development of Wikis with a degree of technical information. However, the book has been specifically written with a non‐technical readership in mind. For this reason it does not explain too much about the software that is used to run Wikis or the platforms on which they can be used. Rather Klobas’ approach is reader‐friendly and accessible to a wide readership which may include library and information specialists as well as academics and students.

Beginning with an explanation of what Wikis are and their history, including guidance on how to use Wikis, why they are used – information sharing – and who they are used by – from experts to the general public, the text continues with a discussion of the pros and cons of this software. These are varied: the fact that there is more than one author could be good (two eyes are better than one); the peer review element; ability to edit documents; depth of coverage, and so on. The cons are equally varied and valid: the questionable levels of expertise; currency of information; editing skills (are pages locked and stored when the content is no longer current?). There is a very useful checklist for assessing the usefulness of Wikis alongside a list of criteria for assessing online resources and the actual information content. This is supplemented by Appendix B which poses questions to aid the evaluation of Wikis as information sources. There then follows a list of sample Wikis including directories, news sites, Wikis about Wikis, community Wikis and IT Wikis with a very useful concluding example of how to reference the use of Wikis. This list provides a very helpful insight into the broad and varied nature of the Wiki.

Wikis are widespread on the Internet and finding them is not always as easy as it might seem, for this reason Klobas has included some tools and techniques for locating them including sites that enable Wikis and a basic introduction to their use. Of particular interest is a discussion on the use of Wikis in LIS and an annotated list of Wikis for LIS practitioners and their users. This is followed by similar examples for business and education users. Continuing with her aim of writing for the non‐technical reader Klobas has included a non‐technical explanation of how to create and manage a Wiki along with a chapter on sources of relevant information which is essentially an annotated bibliography. There are two appendices, the afore‐mentioned evaluation techniques (Appendix B) and Appendix A that contains a table comparing Wikis to web sites.

This book is an excellent resource for new and experienced Wiki users explaining in detail what Wikis are, how they can be used and how to assess them. It is a resource that should be of use to library and information professionals, businesses, academics, students. It has been written in an open and very accessible style, is well laid out with clearly defined subsections in each chapter. The short introductory and concluding paragraphs and annotated notes are equally valuable. There are five additional contributors to the book who are introduced after the preface, and there is also a complete list of figures and tables and a full index.