Wikipedia has long been a valuable resource to me. I've used it often in the past few years, many for following family tree and history type things. I'm intrigued by the English Royal Family, not so much the current residents of Buckingham Palace, but the many who have gone before. With Wikipedia you can (and I have) go back though history from Elizabeth 2 to Alfred the Great and even further back to Egbert of Wessex and his relations (who all seemed intent on killing each other).
It's fascinating stuff and I love that it's set out in easy to read paragraphs with sub-headings and pictures. Written by real people! (instead of professors with degrees in writing dry, 'can't keep your eyes open' type information)
Even though I have used Wikipedia before I hadn't really thorght about the fact that anyone can edit it. It does take away some of the credibility when I think about the fact that I could add an entry about a made up royal who did all sorts of impossibly silly things. At least with such a largely used wiki someone would be quick to see and fix it.
The uses in librarys are obviously many and varied. I would love to set up something like Meredith Farkas suggested in her article on using wikis to create online communities, where the library's online wiki would be a central hub for our community. Reading other peoples thoughts on local restaurants and trade people would be fantastic.
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3 comments:
Hi Branch Baby,
just following up your last idea about reviews of local restaurants and services on a community wiki.... how about people could review their local libraries??? That would make for interesting reading!
Cheers, Paul.
"Blogito ergo sum" - I blog therefore I am.
That's the good thing about wikipedia - the power of the community. With some exceptions fake pages and incorrect information are corrected reasonably promptly.
If a page is constantly messed with it can be locked.
You can also find information that you can't find in other resources.
You've got a very interesting blog here.
Cheers, webgurl
Hey Paul and Webgurl,
Thanks for your comments. Good to know that the effort is appreciated. Feeling inspired, might actually finish this program off! :)
-BB
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