Wiki vs. Content Management System

While learning about wikis in 5 Weeks this week, in my parallel life at the library I attended a committee meeting for implementing a newly purchased content management system on our campus (PaperThin's CommonSpot). As I thought about possible applications this week for wikis in our library, in the back of my mind I kept asking, "or will our new content management system do this?"

Like many 5 weeksters, I really like the idea of wikis for subject guides. Chad's Biz Wiki is the incarnation of what I've been think about for a couple of weeks (intense research activity from our MBA students!). It could serve as a great model. I'm also interested in doing something with library policy manual, and perhaps developing a training tool for students at the reference desk.

Interestingly, my participation in this course is opening up some very interesting dialogues on campus. I just learned that our university system is embarking on a "wikis in instruction" project. I have a meeting next week with someone about that. I'm curious to find out if wiki software has been chosen. I had another meeting with someone yesterday about the RSS feed stuff I was experimenting with in D2L. The connections we've been making in this course are spilling over into the workplace. That's cool.

And finally, before I call this work week a wrap, one comment on the webcasts. They've been great. It would be helpful to have an indication of how long they are for planning purposes. (Maybe that information is readily available and I just don't know where to look. That is very likely).