Wicked Wikis ... behind the stage curtain

This week's first exercise was useful in allowing one to get behind the stage curtain of the wiki and see behind the scenes. First there was the all important question of the name of the drama "wiki" means "quick" and not "what I know is" or as Wikipedia puts it "wiki has being by some backronymed as what I know is.

Through an error I made when adding more pages then I intended, I discovered that wikis do not necessary have to be vast unconglomerated mass of spurious information but a mediated and controlled environment consisting of specific information for a individual community; in this case Oxford web 2.0 librarians. This suggests to me that the wiki might be an especially useful way of providing a "desk manual" or "FAQ" site for use many professions; outlining practices and procedures, or for quick reference at library issue desk, lodge reception, or in another similar situation.

Having been frustrated with my initial inability to add a page and then succeeding to add rather more then required by the exercise I had little time or inclination to add much more. I did go OULS hunting. Here is my contribution http://tinyurl.com/ybwf4hr. I didn't spot many more; perhaps everyone has been assiduously changing them. Has anyone been keeping a record I wonder distractedly and is there a prize for the one who has changed the most!

This week's exercise also allowed me to tick of a job from my long to do list where it had been lingering since January, when I added LibraryThing to the small but now growing list of web applications supported by my Library but had not added to the Directory of Web 2.0 Resources


Wikis are are wicked