Introducing wiki a tool for collaboration Online Northwest Conference, January 21, 2005

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Introducing wikia tool for collaborationOnlin
e Northwest Conference, January 21, 2005

• Kate Rubick and Mark Dahl
• Watzek Library, Lewis Clark College
• rubick_at_lclark.edu, dahl_at_lclark.edu
• http//www.lclark.edu/dahl/presentations/

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The task at hand

• At a professors request, devise a mechanism to
  allow two classes of 20 first-year students
  create a shared list of resources on the
  Constitutional Convention.

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What had been done before

• In previous years the professor had created an
  email list group so students could share
  resources as they found them.
• The results had been unsuccessful.

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Why wiki?

• wikis allow multiple authors to collaborate on a
  document.
• Open source software is available for wiki setup.
• The wiki interface is user-friendly.
• Introducing students to wiki segues into a larger
  discussion on evaluating sources.

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"wiki is Hawai'ian for quick.

• The first wiki, created by Ward Cunningham in
  1994-95, still runs today
• http//c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki?wikiwikiWeb
• One popular (and controversial) wiki
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
• hint try searching the term wiki in
  Wikipedia.
• A Web bibliography on wikis is WikiBibliography
  at
• www.public.iastate.edu/CYBERSTACKS/wikiBib.htm

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What is a wiki? What is not a wiki?

• Blogs
• Personal publishing device for a single author
• Forums or bulletin boards
• Support discussions among multiple people about a
  particular topic or thread

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wiki

• wikis allow multiple authors to collaborate on a
  document
• Several people can write, edit, delete and
  rewrite content on the same page
• Good for collaborative projectsworking documents

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wiki attributes

• A page needs to be linked to exist
• Simple editing rules/simple styling
• Italic
• Bold
• Links
• Images
• Lets enter the LC wiki

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Just click edit
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and then edit
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wiki style

• Our wiki software has a variety of visual styles
  to chose from that apply to the whole wiki
• Hawaiian (soothing images)
• MacOS
• Space
• Etc.

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How to setup a wiki

• Lots of open source wiki software packages
• Download code for PHP, Perl, ASP.NET, Python,
  Java
• We use PHPwiki
• Another alternative is a hosted wiki service such
  as http//editme.com

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Teachable Moments

• Each section came into the library for an
  instruction session one hour in length.
• The purpose of the instruction
• prepare students for doing college-level library
  research on the Constitutional Convention.
• Show students how to use the wiki.

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Accessing the wiki from the Watzek Library
siteStart at http//library.lclark.edu
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Find the Research Guide for Inventing America
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And then locate the pathfinder for their class
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The wiki requires login authentication
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The first screen you see when entering the wiki
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The wiki before the students began editing
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The simplest assessment toola blank index card

• Each student was asked to fill out a card at the
  end of the instruction session.
• On one side they wrote what they learned or
  something they liked about this session.
• The other side was to describe something they
  wished had been covered or other suggestions for
  improvements.

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The responses varied

• The information about the wiki tool was
  explained very well and was really useful.
• I am seriously confused about the wiki.
• Of 29 responses, 21 indicated that they thought
  the class had sufficiently prepared them to use
  the wiki tool.

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The finished producthttp//library.lclark.edu/dy
namic/wiki

• 71 resources were entered, somewhat haphazardly,
  into the wiki.
• Almost all 80 students contributed 2 resources.
  The professor said that all students contributed
  at least one resource.
• Both the students and the librarian (albeit for
  different reasons) had problems adhering to the
  concepts of Wabi Sabi!

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The success of the project

• In a survey with 30 responses, 19 said they used
  the wiki to complete research for their final
  paper. 16 said they used sources they discovered
  in the wiki in their final bibliography.
• In that survey, when asked to rate the wiki for
  ease of use between 1 and 5 (with 5 being
  easiest), 20 gave it a rating of 4 or 5.
• The professor said that the final papers she
  received were 2/3 better than those received the
  previous year.

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Additional technical info

• PHP wiki was easy to setup because
• Works with Open Source databases such as MySQL
  and PostGreSQL
• Integrates with LDAP for authentication. This is
  very helpful when using the application among
  students

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Integrated with Internet technologies

• RSS Feeds
• XHTML downloads

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Thoughts for future projects

• Consider wiki collaboration projects for
  upper-level students.
• Aim for small groups.
• Carefully design how the wiki will be organized
  and make organizing the information a requisite
  for project participants.

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References

• Chang, May. Ive Gathered a Basket of
  Communication and Collaboration Tools.
  Computers in Libraries 248 (September 2004), pp.
  6-11.
• Overview of Weblogs, Forums, wikis and Instant
  Messaging.
• Mattison, David. Quickiwiki, Swiki, Twiki,
  Zwiki and the Plone Wars. Searcher 112 (April
  2003), pp. 32-48.
• In-depth article, includes a glossary of wiki
  terminology.
• Waldman, Simon. Who Knows? The Guardian,
  London, Final edition (October 26, 2004), p. 2.
• Nice article on wikipedia.