Assignment 1

Fayette County Public library serves the whole of Fayette County, as well as many adjacent counties, such as Henry and Clayton. The library is a part of the PINES Library Catalog, which gives users access to over 250 libraries in Georgia. The library contains a collection of over 139,000 volumes of books, audiobooks, movies and periodicals. The library's budget for the 2013 fiscal year is $955,680, and has a paid staff of six employees. A free wiki would be a great idea for this library, as it would allow patrons to share information and interact with each other apart from the physical grounds of the library.

I wasn't sure where to begin to find requirements for a Wiki, so I thought those that WikiMatrix provided would be sufficient in helping to narrow down which Wikis would be appropriate. A page history means that each time a page is edited, an old version of the page is stored for reference. This would would be an important feature for the library Wiki, as it would allow for errors to be reverted. WYSIWYG is also an important feature for the library Wiki, as it would enable all users, including patrons and staff members, to update the pages using the same, easily navigable interface. Commercial support allows the wiki to be supported by a company. For a free wiki provided by a public library, I do not feel this option is necessary. As far as software or hosting is concerned, the library Wiki can be hosted by someone else. A custom domain name, if provided for free, would be welcome perk and may make it easier for users to search for the Wiki.  but as long as the Wiki is easily accessible from the library website, it's not particularly necessary. Branding would be a smart idea, as it would help lessen confusion for patrons transitioning from the library site to the Wiki. Although the Fayette County Public Library site is currently part of the Fayette County government website, so matching the Wiki to the site may be relatively easy.

I felt that Wikispaces would probably be the best host for the library Wiki. They offer both free and paid for plans and at least 2GB of storage. Wikispaces's intended audiences include interest groups, social groups, education, small companies, and individuals, which makes it ideal for something like a library.