The Quickie on the Wiki

I cruised several classmates' blogs tonight because I wanted to get a better idea of just what our report on the ideal wiki should look like. Unfortunately, I did not find anything on that topic posted yet. Okay...I'll be the guinea pig. I've had a rather difficult time wrapping my mind around not only the concept of the wiki, but what specific factors/qualities we're supposed to look for and write about when we choose one. Here's my first shot at it. If anyone has suggestions on improvements, I'm all ears (virtual ones, of course). Thanks for your input!

The library I'm most closely associated with is the small collection at Valdosta State University's English Language Institute (ELI). ELI students are involved in immersion language learning which simultaneously emphasizes grammar, reading, writing, conversation, and learning about American culture.

The primary goal of a wiki for this library would be to provide for the accurate gauging of student interest in specific books and genres, allowing instructors to post suggested reads, and allowing students to post personal reviews of books and their perceptions of how difficult the material was.

Absolute requirements for this wiki would be: (1) it needs to be free and open. We cannot afford to buy additional software/services. (2) WYSIWYG editing. We're not exactly a tech-savvy crowd, and none of us have massive amounts of free time to devote to beefing up our "nerd-factor". Given these constraints, my initial search on Wikimatrix suggested two options: Businesswiki and Mindtouch. Upon visiting those sites, however, I realized that Wikimatrix and I have different notions of what the term "free and open" means. I had assumed it meant one could build a wiki at no cost. They seem to assume that free and open trials (following by various pricing plans) are sufficient to warrant the description.

My next step was to utilize that most popular of information seeking strategies: Google "build a free wiki" and see what comes up. The first four results I found were: WetPaint (which I recognized from another classmate's post), Wikidot, Bluwiki, and Zohowiki. Fortunately, my selection was immediately weeded down by the parameters of the assignment. Bluwiki does not appear on the Wikimatrix evaluation list, so it was eliminated. Wikidot is free, but it did not offer WYSIWYG editing. While its broader range of options were tempting, most of those options would ultimately go unrealized by me because I have neither the time nor inclination to develop the necessary skills. WetPaint and Zohowiki were fairly similar in their options, but I found WetPaint to be a little easier to use.

Verdict: The ELI should utilize WetPaint to create its own wiki...and to cover that unsightly graffiti;-)