It's a Wiki World Out There

This is a test post. After having watched the first class session of 2600, I am realizing how much “unlearning” and reevaluating I might have to do to get a degree in Library Science. It is so different from what I was taught in my B.A. For starters, Wikipedia is linked right off the bat in the syllabus. As a faithful believer in wiki and all it stands for, I warmly welcome it into academia. However, my mentors from English would probably faint. If there was one motto I learned in the last two years of school, it was that Wikipedia does not count as a factual source. I understand that, even as a faithful user. However, questions arise: are there places where it counts and where it doesn’t? What happens when it starts to count? What is its role in libraries versus academia and what could its role be in the future for both of these venues?

I think these are questions that the librarian asks but the English major doesn’t ask. When I started my career in libraries, I thought: “This fits perfectly with my interest in books! What better place for a book lover to work than a library?” As I move forward, I see every day that I don’t actually work with books, I work with people. I work with getting the information and entertainment that people want and need into their hands. For me, this really connects with what Dr. Tomer was talking about in class: we have to make library materials accessible on our patrons’ terms and those terms are increasingly mobile and wiki-fied. Seeing it linked in the syllabus helped me realized that Wikipedia is counting more and more as a factual source and I need to realize that as a librarian.

I see Wikipedia as a jumping off point on a subject. What I mean is this: if I want some basic, introductory information on a subject, a bit more than (or even just) a definition, I’ll start there. It leads me to more Wikipedia articles -- I’ll likely open ten new tabs on various topics mentioned within an article, which might closely or more loosely relate to the beginning topic – and it leads me to sources outside the wiki-realm. Dr. Tomer talked about location reading abilities. What if it was able to do that and libraries could set up a system to link their available related materials to articles? Would people use it? Would I myself use it as a library patron and Wikipedia bottom feeder? I think I would, if I were interested enough in the topic, especially if it linked to a library’s eBook or whatnot and I could simply click a link to access library materials. If I were really interested in the topic, I might even physically go to the library for something listed that seemed worthwhile. With that, I can see that I am already getting ahead of myself.