Wikis in Action @ Binghamton University

LibrariesAbigail Bordeaux

Erin RushtonMarcy Strong

Binghamton in Brief• 13,000+ students• 700+ faculty• 100+ library staff

Background• Staff intranet in place for several years• Remotely hosted wikis in use since

early 2005• Momentum post-CIL ’05 to organize

and develop wiki locally

Implementation Process I• Formed task force in April ’05• Researched and reviewed wiki options

pretty quickly• Recommended implementation of

MediaWiki in May ‘05

Implementation Process II• Installed in July 2005• Migrated content from other wikis• Populated with some intranet content• Added help files in August/September• Took break in early fall• Conducted training in November

Now• Adding to help files• Writing style guidelines• Developing templates• Considering role of the intranet• Conducting further training

Committee Page•Agendas and meeting minutes •Collaborative editing •Repository for documents•Committee descriptions •Committee members

Current Events

Home

Home

Future Plans • More content

– From intranet– Ideas from staff– Ideas from CIL 2006

• Public wiki– Waiting to see what computing centre

does

Creating Help Files• Based on WikiMedia Foundation files

(http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents)

• Modified for BU staff needs

Creating Help Files• Based on WikiMedia Foundation files

(http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents)

• Modified for BU staff needs• Included a glossary of software-

specific terms

Benefits of Creating Help Files• Files reside on local server• Local decision on what to include• Great way to learn the software

Training Sessions• Designed as an hour-long, interactive

session in the computer lab• Asked participants to bring a file to

add as practice

Training Outline• What is a wiki?

Training Outline• What is a wiki?• Used help files as training structure

Training Outline• What is a wiki?• Used help files as training structure• How does the software work and what

can it do for the user?• Lots and lots of practice!

Staff Concerns about the Wiki• Idea of collaborative editing• Making mistakes• Security• Appropriate content

So, What Did We Learn?• Information overload: basic is better• Need more time for hands-on learning • Need additional training• Start with content already on wiki and

seek further suggestions