CSU wiki analysis

Charles Sturt University (CSU) Library Wiki

This wiki is hosted on Wetpaint Wiki, which claims to be "Great for families, hobbies, causes, fan sites, and anything in between. Wetpaint combines the best elements of wikis, blogs, and social networks." At first glance, this seems to be a very accurate description of the CSU Wiki. There is a navigation box, much like a calendar box on a blog. There are also adds along the side bar, comments, and recent activities on this page. The 'Page Toolbox' lets you know exactly what can and cannot be done to the page, this would be helpful since the setting on wikis can vary from one page to the next.

The purpose of the wiki is stated right away:
Collaborative resource. The site has been seeded with the contents of our print FAQ's, and the library team would like students and other CSU staff to provide any additional content. Feel free to create your own pages on topics that would interest others. Have you found a great blog, know where to get free software to download podcasts or have some great shortcut you use in Word? Don't keep it to yourself...please share with the rest of us. The library wiki has the potential to become a valuable shared knowledge base.

This site is not only a place for the pooled knowledge of a select group, but also a meeting center for others. My own wiki currently only deals with the knowledge and information of one group, University Library Staff, but creating a space where people could add their own tips would be very valuable and in keeping with the collaborative wiki tradition.

This as Ullises Ali Mejias states is part of the beauty of a wiki. “A wiki is different that authors don’t have to be in the same physical space, don’t have to have a previous relationship with each other, and don’t need to plan their actions in any way.”

Libraries are sources of information and resources for people no matter what their major or interests. By creating an open space, where time and place is not a factor, people who would have never met in person can still share tips and tricks ranging from the broad to the very particular.

This meeting place does no good however, if people are unable to find each other. A page may be covered in text or have so many other side boxes, comments, etc. that picking out what is relevant from what isn’t can become too big a chore. “How you make sense of the blog has a lot to do with the visual arrangement of the text.” (Mejias)

While I applaud the idea of creating a meeting place for faculty, staff, and students to share resources and ask questions I am not sure that the visual form of the CSU Wiki allows for easy navigation. Most of the pages are covered in comments or advertisements. The categories listed on the navigation sidebar have little to do with research and using the library. One section on complaints about the libraries website is the closest this wiki comes to dealing with library related information. This site is otherwise a meeting grounds for students to send out random/interesting information for everyone else to view. I went to the library website and that seems to fit more with the purpose of my own wiki. In the ‘Ask Us’ section one can search for answers to previously asked questions, or send their own in to be answered.

For a side by side comparison of my wiki to another, this site is not the best choice. The CSU wiki does not create a step-by-step how to for using the library website, resources, or other common library questions like NorthernOwl. CSU wiki, has however given me a new direction to take NorthernOwl. I plan to continue with what I have already started, but I also plan to add a new section where students can go to post questions, create their own topic pages, and offer their own research/class related advice. This will help as Mejias says, “to de-prioritize the individual voice in favor of the collective voice”.

Reference:
"Social Literacies: Some observations about writing and wikis"
by Ullises Ali Mejias