Title: Introducing wiki a tool for collaboration Online Northwest Conference, January 21, 2005
1Introducing 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/
2The 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.
3What 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.
4Why 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.
5"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
6What 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
7wiki
- 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
8wiki attributes
- A page needs to be linked to exist
- Simple editing rules/simple styling
- Italic
- Bold
- Links
- Images
- Lets enter the LC wiki
9Just click edit
10and then edit
11wiki 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.
12How 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
13Teachable 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.
14Accessing the wiki from the Watzek Library
siteStart at http//library.lclark.edu
15Find the Research Guide for Inventing America
16And then locate the pathfinder for their class
17The wiki requires login authentication
18The first screen you see when entering the wiki
19The wiki before the students began editing
20The 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.
21The 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.
22The 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!
23The 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.
24Additional 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
25Integrated with Internet technologies
- RSS Feeds
- XHTML downloads
26Thoughts 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.
27References
- 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.