New work spaces: wikis for cataloging collaborations
| Pages | 15-20 |
| Published date | 07 August 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050911000517 |
| Date | 07 August 2009 |
| Author | Ksenija Mincic‐Obradovic |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
New work spaces: wikis for cataloging
collaborations
Ksenija Mincic-Obradovic
LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 7 2009, pp. 15-20, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050911000517 15
Wikis are online content repositories
to which anyone with access can
contribute. They are interactive websites
where users can add, delete, or modify
pages. Because of their many aspects
and applications, they are viewed as
technology, webspace, as information
and knowledge resources, philosophy,
or even as communities (Klobas, 2006).
Ward Cunningham, who in 1994
developed the first wiki, defined it as
‘‘the simplest online database that could
possibly work’’ (Leuf and Cunningham,
2001). Wiki in Hawaiian language
means fast. Cunningham called the wiki
he created WikiWikiWeb from the name
of the Honolulu International Airport
Wiki Wiki shuttle bus that runs between
the airport’s terminals. Cunningham’s
goal was to enable the quick exchange
of ideas between programmers, so he
made WikiWikiWeb’s pages quickly
and easily editable by its users. Because
they are simple, quick, and inexpensive
tool, wikis became very popular and are
used wherever there is a need for
collaboration and communication. One
of the best-known wikis is the
encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Wikis are social software that has
also been adopted in the business
environment. They are often used for
managing projects and sharing
knowledge and provide an excellent
means for capitalizing on the collective
knowledge of a group when creating a
knowledge repository (Farkas, 2007).
As Christian Wagner says, they
combine the best elements of earlier
conversational knowledge management
technologies (Wagner, 2004).
This article examines wikis as
project management and knowledge
management systems, and both positive
and negative aspects of using wiki
technology in this environment. It will
describe five wikis that New Zealand
libraries have been using for various
projects relating to cataloging and
bibliographic data exchange.
How do wikis work?
With wikis, information can be easily
made available online and participants
are enabled to edit that information. In a
wiki, any user can add entirely new
pages, or change or add new content to
existing pages, or delete information. As
well as content, users can edit the
organization of the wiki.
Users do not have to have technical
knowledge or web design skills. Wikis
use simplified mark-up language and
provide web-based forms that enable
fast and simple editing. Members can
view and create content independently
of each other. Linking between pages or
to any URL is simple, and connections
to other wikis are also possible. Usually
wikis offer instructions on how users
can interact with the wiki.
Wikis can be created in several ways.
They can be hosted on providers’
websites, installed on users’ servers, or
embedded into other software. Most
wikis are free and open source, but for
some software or access plans, users
have to pay. Wikis also differin ways the
content is stored, and the features and
security options they offer. An extensive
comparison of differences between wikis
hasbeendonebyWikiMatrix(http://
www.wikimatrix.org/).
Wikis are praised as flexible tools
that can be used for a wide range of
applications, but they have not escaped
criticism. A common complaint is that
anyone can edit the text, so the wiki
lacks authority and control over its
entries, and is prone to vandalism.
However, many examples show that the
wiki community usually deals well with
these issues. The main principle of a
wiki is openness and trust among its
participants. To enable better protection
of content, many wikis offer control
over changes. A wiki can be created as
private space or have different levels of
administration rights for its members. In
many wikis there is also an option to
lock certain pages or documents.
New Zealand cataloging scene
Almost all New Zealand libraries
contribute to the New Zealand National
Union Catalog (NUC), also known as
the New Zealand Libraries’ Catalog.
This database of catalog records is
maintained by the National Library of
New Zealand (NLNZ), to which New
Zealand libraries report bibliographic
records and holdings information. The
NUC has 280 member libraries, four
million bibliographic records, and 13
million holdings records.
In 2006, the NLNZand OCLC signed
a partnership agreement that made all
libraries in New Zealand full members of
OCLC. The practical implication for
New Zealand catalogers is that they now
organize their daily workflows around
three databases: the local library catalog,
the NUC, and OCLC.
How libraries use these three
databasesvaries, and depends on the way
each library has designed its workflows.
Some libraries, like the University of
Auckland Library, prefer to create new
records on OCLC. Others libraries create
new recordson the NUC, or on their local
catalog. Contributions to the NUC can be
made via the NLNZ Webcat service, the
NLNZ Cataloging Client from the
Voyager IMLS, batch loading from a
local library catalog, the OSMOSIS
process,or OCLC CatalogingServices.
Data is exchanged daily between
WorldCat and the NUC. To enable
accurate representation of New Zealand
records and holdings on the New
Zealand Libraries’ Catalog and on
WorldCat, data exchange must be an
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