The Wikification of Everything!

Well, maybe not everything.  But I do think wikis are part of a kind of cognitive shift from a "consult-the-authorities" model to a more collaborative approach to knowledge.  Is this good or bad?  In a word, yes.  And no, too.

I use Wikipedia fairly often:

--to do a quick look-up on a new term or topic, or refresh my knowledge of something I (should) already know

--in authority work, to find out for example when and where a person was born, or what specific genre of music a performer is identified with

--to get a general sense of a new field of knowledge.

What I don't use Wikipedia for is authoritative knowledge.  Because of its collaborative, anyone-can-change-it nature, Wikipedia is much lighter on its feet than, say, Britannica, but also less reliable.  What I would hope is that we navigators in the sea of knowledge can learn to synthesize the open-ended, democratic wiki dynamic with the older virtues of recognized authority and independent corroboration of facts.  Interestingly enough, when I have occasion on AskAway to caution a student that Wikipedia can't be used as an authoritative source in a paper, they have all, so far, assured me that they know this already.

I've been working on a Materials Division wiki for some time.  I think it's got a lot of potential for collecting the knowledge (procedures, policies, problem-solving ideas, history) that an organization runs on.  What I've discovered so far is that, first of all, it's much more of a challenge to master the technicalities of running a wiki than you might think.  This might be particularly true of the free platforms such as basic PBWiki.  There is a discussion forum that can be useful, but maybe it's a generational thing, or maybe it comes of decades of car maintenance, assembling stuff, and (very low-level) handimannery--I want a manual, darn it!  But too bad, with PBWiki you don't get one!  Another element that needs some attention is organizing your editorial crew and getting some buy-in, otherwise you are just maintaining a cumbersome blog.

You know--speaking of would-be do-it-yourselfization--I wonder if a library might organize a wiki or a set of wikis on topics like gardening, vehicle maintenance, home maintenance, and cooking?  I think the commitment of library staff knowlegeable in these areas--or at least knowledgeable about the library's resources in these areas--would be needed, but I could see a lively and fruitful interplay developing, as well as maybe a very valuable knowledge base, from the synergy between library resources and the knowledge and experience that is out there in our community.