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Wikis and Collaborative Reference Services

Librarians have long been concerned with connecting researchers with information, typically (but by no means exclusively) by means of face-to-face contact at a reference desk. With the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of online resources and services, librarians have used Web-based resources to add an asynchronic dimension to traditional synchronic reference services. One of the new Web-based technologies that has been discussed by librarians in the past few years is the wiki. Librarians have been using wikis for a variety of purposes, including research guides, knowledge-bases, and library Web sites, though they are flexible enough to work in most situations where collaboration or quick Web editing are desired. Wikis are an attractive tool for reference services because they are a relatively simple and inexpensive way to improve information flows among librarians and between librarians and their campus community.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/106433
Date January 2008
CreatorsRussell, John
ContributorsSteiner, Sarah K., Madden, M. Leslie
PublisherAssociation of College and Research Libraries
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeBook Chapter

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