MLA CE Week 2 - Wikis

This week I:
1. Reviewed the various wikis created by librarians to discover how they could be used in our library network.

2. Joined the class wiki @ http://mlawikiclass.wetpaint.com

3. Created a wiki called Peeps Pathfinder that is located @ http://peepspathfinder.wetpaint.com
The purpose of this wiki is to providing links to a variety of Peeps' e-resources ~ Overview of Peeps, Peeps in the News, Reference & Research, Books, Health & Nutrition, Blogs, Photos, & Videos. This is a sample of how a library staff wiki team could create subject guides to library resources ~ both print and online.

4. Posted a link to the blog I created on the MLA Web 2.0 101 Blogs page : http://webphile.blogspot.com
Posted a link to the wiki I created on the MLA Web 2.0 101 Wiki page: http://peepspathfinder.wetpaint.com/

5. Wiki Collaboration. Became a member of the Food in Town Wiki where I also created a post.

6. Created Blog Roll links to the MLA Web 2.0 101 Blogs page and MLA Web 2.0 101 Wiki page on my blog--My Web 2.0 Conspectus

7. Difference between blogs and wikis:
I found both Blogs and Wikis easy to use and create. Blogs are authored by one with comments allowed by readers/users while wikis can include many authors/contributors. Blogs provide news or commentary on a particular topic. Blog entries are generally arranged in reverse chronological order.

Wikis are especially well suited for group collaboration projects resulting in documentation, user manuals requiring updates. Wikis allow anyone to add, edit or delete pages based on the parameters established for the wiki by the administrator. Wikis represent a real plus for the AMEDD MEDLI-NET librarians who are geographically dispersed throughout the United States and overseas. I think individual libraries or several libraries could work together to create a variety of subject guide wikis. AKO does not yet feature wikis but there are group collaboration/document management capabilities available. Wikis can be used as vehicle for both internal library communication as well as with the library’s users.

MLA CE Week 1 - Blogs & RSS

This is great that MLA is offering Web 2.0 101! It’s an excellent follow-on to the Web 2.0 Webcast on 5 March. I think this CE is an outstanding way for medical librarians to get practical hands-on experience with the Web 2.0 tools after reviewing the resource links provided. In addition, I found the participants posted comments and questions very informative and helpful. I anticipate that I will need to complete the CE assignments at home due to our network blocking many of these Web tools due to security issues. Creating my blog and RSS feeds was similar to what we are able to do on the Army Knowledge Online (AKO) portal--AKO is currently cited as the world’s largest corporate Intranet with approximately 1.9 million registered users! It provides secure access to Army Web sites along with providing tools and services to Soldiers, Army employees, retirees, and family members worldwide.

I have had a Bloglines RSS Feeds account since last year and find it an efficient way to keep up-to-date with the various feeds that I track. Again, I do this at home due to our network security. I also view RSS feeds as an additional way to get/push information to our clientele, especially via PubMed and OvidSP for SDI/current awareness for topics of interest. I need to include additional RSS feeds on our Virtual Library’s AKO Web site to highlight new e-resources available as well as PubMed/OvidSP alerts on topics for which there is wide interest.