LibraryBlogsWikis: A wiki that looks at how blogs and wikis are being used in Australian libraries

Information presented in this wiki is from a research project entitled 'Investigating Blog and Wiki Technology for the Enhancement of Internal Rererence Services Processes', sponsored by the 2005 Australian Library Information Association (ALIA) Ray Choate Scholarship.

 By Chelsea Harper (harperchelsea@hotmail.com)
and Kate Watson (katepwatson@hotmail.com)

Funded by the 2005 ALIA Ray Choate Scholarship, this research project entitled “Investigating Blog and Wiki Technology for the Enhancement of Internal Reference Services Processes” has investigated current and potential uses of blogs and wikis in Australian libraries. While the project focused on internal applications for reference services processes, blog and wiki use in Australian libraries was holistically examined to ensure potential applications to internal reference services processes were not excluded from the study.

Three methodologies were utilized to achieve this holistic examination, including an online survey of Australian university, public and special libraries, field visits to institutions with existing blog and wiki applications, and a pilot study conducted at Central Queensland University (CQU) Library. These methodologies have provided quantitative and qualitative data that previously has not been evident in the available literature.

The online survey provided a snapshot of the Australian library landscape in terms of blog and wiki use. The findings of the survey reveal that at the time the survey was conducted blogs and wikis were being used in Australian libraries, though not by the majority.

Field visits at two Australian libraries highlighted the need to utilize Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and wikis where an appropriate need is identified. There is less requirement, however, for policy and guidelines than is suggested by the literature.

The pilot study, conducted at CQU Library, used the information gathered from both the survey and field visits to trial the use of a wiki for an existing internal process relating to the handling of database offers. A survey of staff using the wiki revealed the trial to be a success, with all respondents requesting that the wiki continue to be used in the future.

While the project looked broadly at blog and wiki use in Australian libraries, there is scope for further research to be conducted to compare Australian usage to that of other countries.

Literature Review

Online Survey

Field Visits

Pilot Study

Discussion and Conclusions

Publications and Presentations

Acknowledgements