Here is a pdf of the poster I presented at the ALA conference last weekend. I’ve included a little bit of the text from the poster here as background on the project.

Reference Showcase
Last year, the Reference and Information Services department at the Perry Castaneda Library piloted a new forum for sharing knowledge across all branches of the University of Texas Libraries called the Reference Showcase. This forum was created for public service staff to share information in a timely fashion about assignment-related resources, new databases, research tips, and more. The Reference Showcase forums were intended to be informal, in-person gatherings with brief presentations.

Problem
Because it is not possible for all public service providers to come together on a regular basis for the Reference Showcase due to scheduling conflicts and other obligations, an online solution was needed to provide staff members with long-term access to the knowledge shared at these meetings.

Project Objective
This wiki was created as a repository for the knowledge and information shared at Reference Showcase forums to provide public service staff members with long-term access to time-saving approaches and other valuable information. In addition, I created this wiki to fulfill my capstone project requirement with UT’s School of Information. My field supervisor for the project was Jenifer Flaxbart and my faculty advisor was Dr. Loriene Roy.

Development Process (January – May 2006)

  1. Software selection
    • Open source software or hosted solution?
    • Chose PmWiki, open source software, to be installed on a UT Libraries’ server
  2. Open forum to get initial input from future users
    • Introduced the project, its purpose and scope, and solicited feedback
  3. Created website structure, wrote help pages, created indexes, and implemented additional functionality (extensions)
    • Incorporated feedback from open forum
  4. Test group – five future users
    • Demonstrated wiki at an in-person meeting and solicited feedback then and over the next few weeks
  5. Made changes based on test group feedback and added twenty sample entries
    • Content received from librarians and reference listservs
  6. Instruction session
    • Open to all public service providers at the UT Libraries
    • Brief presentation of the project, wiki demonstration, hands-on training, and Q&A
  7. Training for wiki administrator

Conclusions
The UT Reference Wiki content will change dramatically over the next few months. An existing internal resource called the “Assistance Guide” will be added to the wiki. The Assistance Guide contains more factual answers to frequently asked questions at the reference desk. Public service providers at UT want a one-stop, searchable resource, so the two resources will be integrated.

Wiki at Work poster