Wikimania is taking over the world!
At last years conference, Wikimania 2005, the future of wikis was imagined, and there are some exciting applications for wikis in the near future. The keynote, Jimmy Wales, had some excellent ideas about wikis and great hope for the future which will meet the goal of the Wikimedia movemet: "Imagine a world in which every single person is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge".
Wikiversity, which will create free multi-lingual learning materials, host learning communities, provide quizzes and review materials, and will launch in three languages.
Bliki, which is a blog with wiki support meaning that the entries posted to the blog can be edited by anyone, or by authorized users.
One Laptop Per Child, a project striving to bring laptops to all children with the aim to revolutionize how children are educated, allowing them new opportunities to explore, experiment, and express themselves. With hopes to especially reach children in developing nations, these laptops would use wikimedia tools to encourage learning and creativity.
Wikiwyg, which is a wysiwyg (What You See Is What You Get) editor for the wiki to make wikis easier to edit.
WikiBio states, "you don't have to be a famous celebrity to have a life worth living". This wiki social networking tool allows others to write about you!
The 2006 Wikimania conference just happened the first weekend of August, and so many more exciting topics where discussed and shared. The Wikimania 2006 Archives are already up providing video, audio, presentation slides and transcripts from the conference.
This excellent audio from Wikimania 2006 talks specifically about Wikis in Libraries and Archives!
Basically, the future of libraries suggests that libraries will become user-centered, provide multi-media experiences, be socially rich, and communally innovative. How will that be achieved? A wiki is an excellent start, and the perfect tool for libraries to accomplish all the needs and expectations of the patron 2.0. With all the new developments in wikis, they are becoming easier to use, wider reaching, and even more collaborative. Wikis are the future of libraries, and it is an exciting future indeed!