wiki sandbox

Figuring out the WIKI was a little TRIKI at first. But, I’ve got it now and I posted a few of my favorites on there–movies, restaurants, and web sites. I like the idea of using wikis both at work and at home to organize and share information, especially by giving more than one person the ability to edit and add. That said, however, I find the layout and appearance cluttered and haphazard. I guess I am just more comfortable with the “prettiness” of web sites, intranets and blogs.

I think, though, that I heard something about how the functions and capabilities of wikis depend on the wiki provider, so perhaps there are some different options out there that I’m not yet familiar with.

As I was working on loan screen this morning, I came across a new book, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. It looks interesting. I’ve got so much to read, but I may skim through it. Here’s a blurb from the website :

Smart firms can harness collective capability and genius to spur innovation, growth, and success.

A brilliant primer on one of the most profound changes of our time, Wikinomics challenges our most deeply-rooted assumptions about business and will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand the key forces driving competitiveness in the twenty-first century.

Based on a $9 million research project led by bestselling author Don Tapscott, Wikinomics shows how the masses of people can participate in the economy like never before. They are creating TV news stories, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding a cure for disease, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, and even building motorcycles.

del.icio.us take 2

Well, in this catch-up week I’ve gone back to delicious and created an account. It’s still not much of a profile yet, so I’m not making it public, but probably will when I get more comfortable with it. From what I’ve read about delicious, here are the features that I like and look forward to using:

• ability to view “all” or “popular”
• reading list
• syllabus–access via URL
• create a shared tag–create a unique tag, designate others to create that same tag and then everyone posts their findings there
• the magic middle–put others to work for you–their bookmarks and tags have filtered sites for you 
• potential tool for research assistance