Thing 16 - Wikis

Wikis are the ultimate collaborative tool for things other than Mocrosoft Office products (Word, Excel, etc.). They are completely egalitarian, open, and invite engaged particapation from collaborators. I liked the idea of book group/book list wikis, as in the Princeton model. I also think that for things like branch or systemwide workplans, wikis can be a viable option for generating discussion, authoring policies, visions, etc. Care does need to be exercised when opening wikis to external customers of the library, I think, in the same way Wikipedia exercised due vigilance on its site. I'd wager that any library running teen programs would love to make use of wikis in conjunction with Flickr, MySpace, and other blogging opportunities.

If you want a laugh, one wiki I visited had a link to a hilarious definition of a "librarian", authored (I think) by Stephen Colbert (of the Colbert Report). You can find it at the Uncyclopedia, at http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Librarian.