Yesterday I spent the day at the Spring Program of the Indiana OnLine Users Group (IOLUG) where the subject of day was “Marketing Your Libary on the Web.” They talked about ways to promote your library and your library’s website, primarily using online tools. While I made lots of notes for things to consider, check on, or implement right away, there was one idea that I got that I just HAD to act on immediately.

It was based on a comment that Michael Stephens (visit his website: http://tametheweb.com/ to learn more and read GREAT ideas for technology in libraries) made during his presentation (which you can see on his site). He went to Wikipedia and scoured the library-related pages and didn’t find ANY reference to libraries using wikis.

(Note on Michael Stephens: It is incredibly motivating and energizing to listen to this guy talk about technology in libraries! He’s nonstop and FULL of energy. And also full of incredible ideas. What I enjoyed most about his presentation is that he said things that many of us have been thinking for a while, but he has the clout to make people listen and to make new technology ideas seem attainable and useful instead of pie-in-the-sky. THANK YOU, MICHAEL!)

For those of you new to this innovative technology, “a Wiki or wiki (pronounced [wɪki:], [wi:ki:] or [vi:ki:]) (and for those of you unfamiliar with IPA, think “wickie”) is a web application that allows users to add content, as on an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit the content. Wiki also refers to the collaborative software used to create such a website” (taken from Wikipedia’s entry on Wiki).

So I was thinking about uses for purposefully allowing (even encouraging) ANYONE to edit content of web pages. There are tons of wikis out there, on all kinds of topics, but the idea that came to me during Michael Stephens’ presentation was using a wiki to allow faculty and students to review, discuss, and comment on the Reference Resources that we provide at Butler University.

So within an hour of getting home yesterday after the conference, I decided on SeedWiki as my host and set up Butler WikiRef. I decided to start by listing the databases that we subscribe to, and then moving on to books and things. You can visit our site at http://www.seedwiki.com/wiki/butler_wikiref/ or by going to http://www.seedwiki.com and searching for Butler or WikiRef. While this wiki will primarily be geared toward those participating in academics at Butler University, anyone is welcome to contribute–that’s the nature of wiki.