Thing 12

Aha! A thing I regularly use and can speak on from experience. Both our Reference Librarians and our Youth Services Librarians (of which I am one) have wikis that we use to post ideas, have discussions, share files and information, and more. Though time-constraints always make it hard to devote any real time to your computer when you work in a public library, I do like having all the information on the wiki for whenever I can read it, share information on it, and partake in discussions. From a professional standpoint, I can see its usefulness, whenever those who are posting on the wiki have the time to devote to it. Also, as Captain Rob said on his blog, "A nice way to cut down on all those cumulative emails that stack up." Word to that!!

From an education standpoint, I absolutely understand why teachers ban its use...it's a serious target for subjectiveness. Since anyone can edit it, similar to creating a website through Yahoo, anything can be posted on it...you'd have to trust that the information is sound (or that some kind soul came by and edited it correctly) rather than KNOW the information is sound. This is a reason teachers aren't fond of websites either. Unlike the publication process of a book, there's no one fact-checking and making sure webmasters aren't either making things up or don't know what they are talking about. Very unreliable, both of these, for doing any sort of research.

That being said, like Social Media, if what you're using it for is casual purposes and you go in knowing to take it all with a grain of salt, sometimes you can find quick answers or the information you desire. If we're speaking of libraries and reference questions, using wikis (including wikipedia) or .com websites is taking a serious gamble on the truthfulness of the information you're giving. Give me a book or a database any day!