Don’t Call It A Wiki!SJCPL’s wiki success

Marianne Kruppa

Web Developer Librarian

St. Joseph County Public Library

m.kruppa@sjcpl.org

Overview

Where we were Where we wanted to be Where we are now and how we got

there Where do we go from here?

SJCPL Shortcuts to the Web

SJCPL Shortcuts to the Web

Subject List Librarian selected websites Led patrons away from the library

website and library materials Database driven - Lasso

– Librarians input URLs– Quirky

KCPL’s Subject Guides

KCPL’s Subject Guides

Articles created by librarians Guide RSS feeds Imported RSS feeds Database driven - ColdFusion

– Librarians send articles to webmaster

SJCPL’s Subject Guides

SJCPL’s Subject Guides

Articles created by librarians– Emphasis on library material and programs– http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/index.php/Homework

Some feeds - new and recent changes Wiki driven - LAMP

How did we do it? (the technical stuff)

Have a sandbox server Tested a couple of wiki products. Picked MediaWiki because of the

familiar interface. – Technophobes knew what to expect.– Easy install included

How did we do it?(the people stuff)

Find your cheerleader(s)! Don’t call it a wiki (for the technophobes

out there) Jump in and see what happens

How did we do it? (the people stuff)

A truly wiki experience– Most knew what a wiki is– Most had used Wikipedia– Most wanted to learn– None knew where to start

Where do we go from here?

SJCPL Staff Wiki

Fully collaborative Minimal training OK to say “wiki”

SJCPL Staff Wiki

SJCPL Staff Wiki

Collaborative policy and procedure creation

Pre-pub area for Subject Guide creation/major edits

Part of new hire training Fun is allowed

SJCPL Staff Wiki

Questions?

SJCPL Subject Guides:http://www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides/

Contact me:

email: m.kruppa@sjcpl.org

AIM: sjcplskagirlie

blog: http://blog.skagirlie.net/