What is the difference between a blog and a wiki?
Blogs and wikis have many differences. Blogs are usually arranged chronologically, while wikis are usually arranged thematically. Blog content is created by the owner or owners of the blog. While more than one person might contribute to a blog, content is not widely available to edit, add onto, etc. Once a blog post is made, it rarely changes. Most people participate with a blog by either reading or commenting. The content on wikis is created by a larger number of people. It is edited, rewritten, expanded upon, etc. Wiki pages change often. Most people participate with a wiki by changing or adding to its content.
What sort of things might be better suited for a blog and better suited for a wiki?
Announcements, news stories, and other updates are perfect for a blog. A wiki is good for group projects and other collaborative efforts where members can share, revise, or add ideas.
How do you think you could use RSS feeds at your library?
RSS feeds will be a valuable collection development tool for me. By subscribing to PubMed searches and the tables of contents of journals in my selection subject areas, I will be able to keep up to date with trends in those areas. Also, I will be able to see when new book reviews are published in the journals in my field. I will also be able to use RSS feeds to monitor the library literature that will be valuable to my work with the library’s website and the serials project I am currently working on. I currently subscribe to a number of e-mail alerting services, but I think that converting as many of these as possible to a RSS feed reader will simplify things.
How do you think patrons could use RSS feeds?
The patrons in my library who will find RSS feeds most useful will be faculty members, graduate students, and researchers. They will be able to create precise PubMed searches for articles they are interested in and have them sent to them, rather than needing to repeat the search on a regular basis. They will also be able to use RSS feeds to keep up with the articles in the journals they consult most often by subscribing to the tables of contents for those journals.
