Wikis

Remember these? by nathanborror

Well, we're nearly finished. After being sucked in by Youtube last time watching frivolous videos (all in the name of research!), I felt it was time I did some proper work. To ease my guilt I donned the hair shirt and decided to attack the stockcheck single-handed. Not in quite the same league as Ellen MacArthur sailing solo around the world but still a big undertaking. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised when I managed to complete it in three days although I only did the open shelf books and not the journals or the rare book collection. So after checking through over 5,000 books I found two missing, despite the prescence of security gates designed to emit death rays to anyone trying to steal our stock (o.k. so it only has a loud alarm and flashing lights - the budget wouldn't stretch to death rays).

Penance paid, I took a look at some wikis. As time is slipping away before we must complete Cam23 I am going to take the easy option and blog about Wikipedia. A free online encyclopaedia is a wonderful tool and unlike a paper version can be updated instantly. Entries are easy to find and there is probably one for almost anything. There are links to other entries creating a vast network. For example on the entry for Queen Elizabeth II there are links in the text to family members, countries in the Commonwealth, and historical events from her lifetime. The point of a wiki is that it can be edited by anyone which is the major drawback to Wikipedia. Misinformation can be posted either in error or deliberately and as Wikipedia is so vast it is difficult to check the veracity of all the information on it. Unless you know the information to be true, you should check other sources before taking it as fact.

I think that wikis resemble Google docs with the principle of creating something that can be edited by other people. The difference is in scale as wikis can be changed by almost anyone and Google docs only by selected people. The Library runs a small field course library and we need to change the way the list of books is arranged. I would like to produce an updated list and get input from other people on its construction but I think this would be a job better suited to Google docs as I would restrict it to a handful of people.

And so, the end is nigh ...

Google docs

Sharing by ryancr

A return to something easier. As I already had a Google account I could just go straight in and create something new. I chose to do a document as it would be quick to produce but then couldn't decide what it should be about. I finally thought of a list of books missing from the Library with the information displayed in a table. Once I had produced the document I went to 'File' but the save option was blanked out. There is an icon in the top right-hand corner, next to the 'Share' button which says 'Saved' and this seems to have worked. I shared the document with two other people on a view only basis but after responses from both of them about it I decided to change the sharing settings to "can edit".

I have also received documents from two people. I couldn't open the first one as I kept getting a message saying I had entered the wrong password despite trying my Google, Raven and Hermes passwords. This may have been because I didn't have anything in Google docs myself but when I had produced something I was able to open the one I had been sent and add a note to it. Now I can't open the second document either and can't remember what I did to open the first one. Senility must be creeping in.

Google docs is a great way of sharing documents when multiple input is required in their production. It can be sent to as many other people as you like and you can restrict those who you don't want interfering with it to a view only basis whilst still getting the opinions of those who matter. This tool would be useful in our library when writing the minutes of the library committee meeting. A draft version can be produced and sent out to the committee members for their thoughts and additional items which have been forgotten or need correction.