Part 2 of 2
continued from Part 1
Creating a wiki on PBWiki
PBWiki is a commercial wiki application and hosting service. Signing up for a personal account is free and gets you 2 GB of storage with the paid service starting at $99 per year for a personal account. Aside from 2 GB of storage, the free account gets unlimited pages and folders, ability to change color scheme, wiki-wide RSS feeds, and role-based access control.
I decided to use the same content for my PBWiki account and proceeded to format the page. I created the same kind of heading but divided it to three pages. I also added the two images I used on MediaWiki. I spent less time creating the wiki on PBWiki, just because I already have the content and basically just copying what I have on MediaWiki, but also because formatting a page on PBWiki does not require the user to resort to text-based codes as it provides a GUI to accomplish the task. Here is the link of the wiki created on PBWiki.
Comparison between MediaWiki, PBWiki, and Google Documents
Although I did not have a hard time setting up my wiki on both MediaWiki and PBWiki, the latter has the edge in terms of ease of use. For the average user who might not be interested in learning text-based formatting, having icons present on the page to clue the user makes the task of set up quicker, and easier to change and maintain. Of course, whether it is text-based or icons it functions the same so it is more a question of user preference at this point. MediaWiki being open source does not seem to suffer from lack of users just because of its user interface. With regards to Google documents, aside from the spreadsheet the LIBR 246 class used in the assignment for blogs, I have been using it for more than a year now. The library system I work for developed an online and unified schedule for staff at the different location using Google spreadsheet published through Blogger. I am the scheduler at my branch and it is my task to create the schedule for that facility using the template that the staff developed. I rarely encounter problems using Google documents to collaborate on the schedule aside from a glitch here and there and user error if a staff member did not save the document correctly. But as I have said, those are rare occurrences. I also like the fact that Google documents are compatible with Microsoft Office so you can work either on Office or Google.
In terms of security, I find PBWiki’s security feature more robust. I like how the admin account has the option to limit access to editors but even those that can view it. I think such feature is necessary if wikis are going to be embraced by organizations conscious of security or has trade secrets or confidential information that they don’t want others to see. Another edge that PBWiki has, is the ability to do RSS feeds of the content and changes on the wiki. This is a useful feature for project management as it alerts other users if there if someone worked on the wiki. But even with the features of PBWiki, I think I am comfortable in continuing to use MediaWiki moving forward. I like the fact that it is continually improved, scalable, free to use, and is supported by an active community.
Library uses of Wikis
The video and power point presentation of Chad Boeninger provided examples of how wikis can be a useful collaboration and information storage and retrieval tool among different set of users. He demonstrated how the educational institution he is affiliated with, Ohio University, use wikis in their internal communication and as an information storage and retrieval system. He also showed how businesses can use it for project collaboration and management. For information centers, he showed how wikis has been used for both internal and external communication and as a resource guide. Farkas in her book, Social Software in Libraries, provides example of how libraries can use wikis to develop community collaboration by setting up a community wiki, wherein locals can provide inputs on good places to get goods and services, sort of a one-stop shop. She also mentioned how libraries can use it to create subject guides for students in the area to make their research for projects and assignments easier. My experience in going through the activities for this assignment clued me to what uses I will have of wikis both as a LIS student and later on as a professional. Even though I am just on my 3rd semester, I can use wikis to organize papers, readings, discussion posts into what competencies they address in the LIS program to prepare for the culminating experience or the e-portfolio. Another use that I see is my own resource guide specific to the specialization of librarians, like what I created with this assignment, resources for children’s librarian. The LIBR 246 wiki itself is a good example of a collaborative effort by both the professor and the students to build a resource guide. The content is far richer and varied than if it was done by one person. In closing, I can see how even as an individual project or done in collaboration with peers, using wikis in libraries would be beneficial not only to the constituencies that we will cater to, but also for our own professional development.