To Blog Or Not To Blog. . . Wiki Should I Choose?

          Blogs and wiki pages are written vehicles of expression created for the purpose of sharing information, individually or by collaborating with others, via the Internet. They are both creative ways for people with various interests and abilities to engage in a number of online activities, including:

• showcasing their creativity
•       voicing their political opinions
•  posting information about their favorite celebrities
• helping themselves and others understand the multifaceted nature of technology

After reading several sources and based on personal experience, I have concluded that I really enjoy reading and creating blogs.  Therefore, I have chosen to submit my coursework for LIMS 5025 in the form of a blog. The following paper will provide information about both blogs and wikis, briefly noting some of the features/how they are set up, how they can be used by library media specialists and a few pros and cons of these very popular forms of social media.

A blog is a web log in the form of an online journal. Resembling a web page, the most recent entries of a blog begin at the top of the page.  Easy to create and update,  blogs are ideal for those of us who like to design, publish and maintain our own information without the concern of someone being able to add anything that would overshadow our individualized touch.  I can place a photo or other images as the background, my favorite websites can be added as links, and I can stay abreast of the latest goings-on of organizations that interest me with an RSS, Rich Site Summary, feed.  I also love the widgets, or software applications, that I can add to my blog.  My widgets can be anything from a countdown clock to anticipate the start of my school library’s scary story read-a-thon in October or a check box to ask my blog followers, children and adults alike, to choose their favorite books from a list of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps titles.

According to Lori Hile in Social Networks and Blogs, the rate at which people blog has increased tremendously over the past decade. Hile noted the change in the number of blogs that have existed from 1999-2008: 

1999 50 blogs
2004 4.1 million blogs
2008 112.8 million blogs

Getting started on your own blog is as easy as going to www.blogger.com.  Create a gmail account if you do not already have one. Sign in, and watch the youtube video of the newly designed site. Follow the prompts and get published online today!

Believed to be Hawaiian for fast or quick, the word “wiki” is practically a household word.  Like blogs, wikis are websites that allow authors to create and publish, add and delete information. For the most part, wikis are used to display researched information or to house notes taken on a particular subject. They are different from their online counterparts because they are primarily collaborative efforts. There is a set amount of joint planning, publishing and editing that takes place in wiki work. Wikipedia, co-founded by Internet entrepreneur Jimmy Wales, is the most well-known wiki that allows anyone to be an author.

A school librarian and classroom teachers can collaborate on content area wikis. During their common preparation periods, or preps, the educators can discuss what areas of Social Studies fourth graders need to cover by Thanksgiving, for example.  The teachers can contribute the themes, or big ideas, vocabulary words, etc; the librarian could then create and post web quests and pathfinders after adding an authorative list of the top five resources on the particular area of study. If the third grade teaching team reads the wiki and agrees that a few of the things that they were unable to teach the previous year should be included, they can add that information to the already existing document.  I regularly refer to Chicago Public School’s Department of Libraries’ wiki to get updated information on grant opportunities, events and who to call with librarian-related concerns.

 

Implicit in the way wikis are created is the room for correcting and holding others accountable for their work. I remember seeing a picture of Lou Ferrigno as “Hulk” labeled as Dolph Lundgren on Wikipedia. I laughed because I knew that the information was not correct. Dolph’s hair is blond, not green. I did not bother to edit the page because I did not know then how simple it would be to change information in an article. Fortunately, someone else had corrected the information the next time I searched for Lundgren.  Just like this mistake occurred on a wiki, blogs, because they are often based on people’s personal experiences or born out of an individual’s point of view, can contain misleading, offensive, plagiarized or biased information. However, if enough people read someone’s blog and the information sounds too familiar or disturbing, well-meaning people can comment on that particular blog or start their own blog to foster change.

Because I am so new at online writing—I have written articles for my school newspapers, grants for classroom supplies, epic letters to friends and the like—I do not want my thoughts altered in any way.  However, the more I looked at www.wikispaces.com, the more I thought that creating a wiki may not be such a bad idea after all.  You can actually be pretty creative with a wiki as well as a blog by adding videos and calendars, not just photos like I usually see on Wikipedia.  Consider setting up an account (choose a username and password) and creating a wiki page.

             If you are like me and want the page to look inviting before you can get any work done, click on Manage Wiki on the right side of the home page and scroll to Settings. Choose Look and Fee, and let your creativity flow.  Play with the colors and themes or upload an image to use as a logo. I am a collaborative partner on a wiki, so I could change a few things on the page that would reflect my individual style and interests. At the same time, my style of writing could be a way that I could let my personality, tastes and creativity shine forth.  No matter what, constant communication and explicit mutual respect for others’ ideas have to be in play for a wiki to be successful.

 

Whether I continue to express myself through blogs or challenge myself and start a wiki page, I will encourage my friends and co-workers to join the online world of writers. Many times we are warned to be careful what we put on the Internet--what we put out there stays there forever.  So, wouldn’t it be nice to encourage children to start blogging or creating wikis to document how they are learning to journal, collaborate, publish and edit?  What a treasure it would be for someone’s grandmother to save all of her cake and pie recipes in a wiki or a blog to share with present and future generations. A friend who never knew she liked to write started a blog about food, knitting and the weather from a Christian’s perspective. Visit www.tradingyokes.com to read what she has to say. Find wikis about summer reading programs, kids and medicine and teaching American history to ESL students on www.educationalwikis.wikispace.com.  But, do not take my word for it; create your own online forum today!