Contributing to wikis

The learning 2.0 website encourages users to learn to edit a wiki site for practice. The sandbox, or site for playing around, that they have set up was unavailable to me two years after the project originally initiated, so I instead went over to Wikipedia to try editing a page there. 

I went through the editing tutorial that is available on their website and found it to be very user friendly. They definitely want to legitimize the information that users provide, and ask people to cite sources and reference any changes made to a page. Even if the historian in me may look at some of the sources and realize that they aren't that great to begin with, as a general internet peruser and quick fact looker-upper, I do like knowing that the information has a basis somewhere, and, if traced back far enough, is probably from a legitimate source. 

However, I am now excited to go into the Salamanca wiki page and either edit the section about the Plaza Mayor or write a new page for it. There's a place where I have plenty of information and sources! I could potentially edit wikipedia in two languages, although the page in Spanish is already quite good. 

What I like about Wikipedia and other open source sites such as this is how it allows people to be passionate about particular areas and then share it with the world. Or at least other similarly interested people. I was out to dinner last night with a friend of mine who edits a open source sports magazine online, and she was mentioning how even though the content is not her cup of tea, the people who contribute as well as those who run it are extremely dedicated to their interests and really utilize the source. 

La Plaza Mayor de Salamanca

After spending a bit over a week looking into the Library 2.0 world and all the various forms it can take, I've really grown to appreciate all the technology out there. In my mind, the role of the library has always been to foster knowledge and introduce people to new sources and information. Therefore Library 2.0 and the Web 2.0 tools available fit well into the established goals of the library.

My thesis for my Spanish major at college was about the Plaza Mayor of Salamanca and it's role as the social/political/cultural/etc center of the city. In America, the majority of towns and cities don't have a center that is as multi-functional as this lovely architectural gem in Spain, , however we do have libraries. What drove me to be a librarian was, in part, my desire to see the interaction of people and place in a completely accessible and public space. I feel that the direction of library 2.0 in part will lead us to this point, where a library will not just be a space for books, but a space for public interaction and discourse in whatever medium is appropriate. The public library has a great deal of possibility, if it can ride out the waves of change.

Dr. Wendy Schulz's article, describes how the library is an ever-changing part of society and will continue to morph and grow through various trends and desires of the public. I like her library 4.0 vision, and hope the transformation of libraries can seamlessly meet the wants of the public. I also like Michael Stephen's article about librarian 2.0 and that this person needs to understand and anticipate the needs of the patron, keeping on top of the changes going on in the world around us. All of the articles offered by this section of the learning 2.0 course are interesting, though these two are the ones that stood out to me.