I have been thinking a lot about Wiki’s lately. It’s a tool that I have been recently using a lot. It seems like anyone can efficiently use Wikis for a multitude of purposes. Personally, I have been using them in my class work for group projects. I find that it is one of the most efficient ways of communicating with large amounts of information and to collaborating with others. Here are some of the Wikis I have been working on:
I do tend to favor Wikispaces over PBwiki. I suppose I just found Wikispaces first and learned how to use it and felt comfortable enough with it to keep using it. The two links above are for class projects; one is currently ongoing for a marketing class (Shady Acres, a fictional library) and video games in libraries was used for a research class that has since been finished.
Even contemplating my few experiences with wikis I feel that they have a great potential in library use for the future. They are free or very inexpensive (usually if you want them to be private) they are easy to learn how to use and they have lots of tools that come in handy. For more information about wikis look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikis . For trying out your own wiki http://www.wikispaces.com/ or http://pbwiki.com/ are good choices.
Recently I read an article in Library Journal about Second Life. I actually had some mixed feelings about this article; which did not have any thing positive to say about the virtual world. The author claimed that he had been “wasting a part of my life that I’ll never get back”, and that “we have a fair amount of people in our profession who really need to get a life.” This is a statement; among others that I have issues with. The only comment that the author made that I did somewhat agree with is the question of, “what are we hoping to accomplish with Second Life?”
I appreciate Second Life for what it is, and yes there are some aspects that I don’t like. Some examples that really need work are the graphics, which are not very visually pleasing and the controls for the avatars need an overhaul. I’m no stranger to computer games yet I am constantly running into things with my avatar.
Having been an active member of virtual worlds for the past two years I can say that I don’t believe them to be a waste of time. In my own opinion I think that that virtual worlds have a lot of potential for libraries and for communication. My own foray into virtual worlds such as World of Warcraft and City of Villains have led me to unexpected people from all over the world. For example; in World of Warcraft; one of my guild members (regular people you play with) started talking about a paper he was working on and asked for assistance. I; being the energetic library student that I am; immediately conducted a reference interview and was able to guide him to relevant websites and databases that he had access to to get him the information. All of this was conducted in game through typing and using a voice chat program. This is an experience I hope to repeat in the Second Life environment. People are using Second Life as a conference place, a learning center and in a host of other ways.
I think that libraries should branch out and attempt to become a presence on games that are as far reaching as these. I give great applause to those who are already involved in Second Life, but what about other virtual worlds? Let your presence be known in the video game world and open yourself for business. A vast majority of people who play MMORPG’s are students (usually men) in high school or college. Last time I checked they were a demographic that were being targeted by libraries for potential users. Well here they are folks, come and get them. Start a library guild and let your services be known, hey you can even play the game and mabey you’ll have some fun!
