#4 WIKIS

Big doubts re unrestricted user input where libraries provide a venue for chatterboxes, amateurs,busybodies and exhibitionists.
Danger of creating a collage of bland trivia, disjointed snippits,hearsay and downright misleading information.
Without quality control we are inviting technology driven graffiti.
Yet despite these dangers and pitfalls , all the news is not bad.
The Princeton Public Library's Booklover's Wiki cannot be discounted, despite a huge variation in the quality of the contributions.
Internal library wikis created and altered only by authorized staff (deemed qualified to comment in a specific subject field), could provide some value.
Unusual and potent sources of information not traceable via the library's catalogue or via standard textbooks, may be known to a staf member and added to a SUBJECT GUIDE.
Some periodic editing may be required, so as not to let the finished product degenerate into a non hierarchical clutter of unrelated items.
An ELECTRONIC REFERENCE DESK MANUAL that can easily and quickly be updated and expanded, seems a goer.

Perhaps we could produce a "select list of new books added to the collection" wiki, as a service to the increasing number of offsite users, to supplement the current weekly new books display on site
Perhaps.
Umbopo is somewhat sceptical, but is keeping his mind's door ajar.
He has even managed to make a small contribution to the SLV TRAINING WIKI.