It's been quite interesting to see how people have used the wiki platform in various contexts since the software started to garner serious attention around the turn of the millennium. I've seen contexts in which wikis worked really well and contexts in which they've failed miserably.
First, let's consider the tasks required by this Thing. The readings and examples of wikis in action were interesting, but what struck me most was the optimism with which some libraries embraced wikis prior to the advent of content management systems (CMS). Prior to CMS like Drupal and Joomla, wikis actually provided a straight-forward, relatively user-friendly way to create web content. Some libraries embraced this with gusto (like the St. Joseph County Public Library subject guides mentioned in the Thing 10 instructions). In an MCPL context, this sort of approach could result in our librarians creating subject guides, book maps, and pathfinders on a broad range of topics, and the plus is that it's all be possible without the need for additional Dreamweaver licenses and training in HTML, etc.
With regard to the MCPL wiki, which we were asked to edit, I found the actual process of working with and editing a wiki to be quite simple--that is it's fairly easy once you find the help page that explains the commands. It's also fun to see how creative my co-workers are. The tale of Bilbo Dreamweaver is awesome, and I liked hearing about my co-workers cats. And using the page history to see who added what and/or made revisions is a great example of the real potential of wikis.
Which brings me to my main point: wikis, when you get down to the nitty-gritty, seem suited to a very specific purpose. Yes, they've been used in all sorts of ways, but the online encyclopedia entry seems to be the best application. This is attested to by the popularity of the Wikipedia and other topic-specific online encyclopedias, like the Lostpedia. At one point, MCPL gave wiki software a shot, but it never caught on. Two thoughts there: 1) I really think that given our in-house access to the Office suite and networked drives, the potential for commenting and tracking changes within programs like Word is a much more viable alternative, and 2) our switch from a static web-editing platform to the Drupal CMS allows us to take advantage of certain wiki-like features (like a revision history). I also think staff were turned off to the MCPL wiki because they were asked to use it for tasks and discussions for which it was never really intended. This--coupled with the learning curve involved in mastering the editing commands--led to the development of staff resistance to the wiki use (at least, that's my take on it).
All of which makes me ponder again the goal of 23 Things: to familiarize staff with different technologies and interfaces so that everyone has a better understanding of which online tools are best suited to which jobs. I think one potential application of the wiki at the community level has already been addressed by the Bloomingpedia. Of course, I may be wrong. Time will tell.
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