Library:Home

Welcome to the Library namespace! This namespace is reserved for library content and resources. Library staff interesting in contributing to the Library namespace should use the Library Helpdesk form to request editing access rights.

Library Pages in the Wiki

Search the Library Namespace

• Browse Library Pages: by Category | Alphabetically
• Branches
• Committees and Groups
• Instructional Materials
• Learn to Use the Wiki
• LTK Manual
• Resource Pages Application Manual

Wiki Guidelines

Here are some basic guidelines to follow in order to help keep the UBC Wiki organized and well maintained.

1. Consider about Privacy
   • Everything on UBC Wiki is public. Take a look at Help:Privacy to consider and make decisions about what you are putting online
2. Search first before creating.
   • Always search for a page or category which may already exist that is similar to what you want to create. In particular, it can save you time to import the content rather than recreate any content you need.
3. Give your page a concise and descriptive name.
   • For example, you want to create a tutorial on searching for information on statistics. However, if you name your page "Statistics" or "Statistics Tutorial", people will generally think it is a page which describes statistics. A better name might be "Searching for Statistics Tutorial".
4. Organize.
   • Make sure that any pages you create are in the right space of the wiki. Any pages created for library staff use should be in the Library namespace. Make sure your page is prefixed with "Library:", such as wiki.ubc.ca/Library:Example_page. If you have a lot of pages related to a topic, you should make subpages for the related pages by adding a forward slash, such as wiki.ubc.ca/Library:Example_page/my_related_page.
5. Categorize.
   • In order to help organize the wiki and for others to find things, categorize pages into existing or new categories. Just be sure new categories have a good name as well. Categories cannot be renamed. To help keep the Library space organized, you should always add at least one category, usually your branch or the topic (e.g. Category:Finding Library Resources), and new library categories should be added to to Category:Library, or to a sub-category thereof.
6. Leave notes.
   • Pages in the Library namespace can be edited by any library staff. Everyone is encouraged to help keep content up to date and organized, but it would be helpful (particularly with large edits) to fill in the "Summary" box with what you changed. If you are uncertain about something, you can leave comments in the edit box itself or make use of the "discussion" tab at the top of the page.
7. Enjoy!
   • The wiki is a great collaborative, organization, and creativity tool!

When to Use the Wiki

These guidelines are still in flux as the Library website continues to be developed, but these general guidelines should help you decide when to use the wiki, wordpress, or the Library Toolkit (LTK).

For the Wiki

The wiki is likely best for pages where you answer yes to one or more of the following questions:

• Is this a general topic (not specific to a subject or branch)?
• Would you or others like to create a PDF of the information?
• Would multiple people have something useful to contribute?
• Are you collaborating with others?
• Does this page need to be updated frequently?
• Do multiple people/branches want to use more or less the same content?
• Is your content not considered "library policy"?

Examples: How to... pages, such as "How to Find Newspapers" or "How to Search Databases". Note that templates can be made so that all the instructions are the same, but examples can be modified to fit specific subject areas.

For Staff Intranet

Documents and information related internal committees, working groups, and other internal units, should be in the staff intranet, except in the case that people outside of the library are involved, such as faculty and community members.

For LTK

Similar to the toby Subject Guide, the new LTK is designed basically for Subject (e.g. Education), Topic (e.g. Building Codes/Standards), and Course Guides, which is specialized content. Generally, if you are providing a list of useful resources, then you should be using the LTK. The LTK is also being used for Faculty Publications lists. The Research Guides Portal is the current access point for all published guides in LTK (and toby until they've all been migrated).

The big advantage to listing resources in the LTK is the integration with infopages. On the other hand, if you want the list of resources to be available through two or more of wiki, wordpress, and LTK, then you might consider putting it into the wiki as it can then be pulled into all three. If you're unsure, please feel free to contact web services for a quick consult.

For WordPress

Remember that wiki pages can be displayed as a WordPress (WP) page. If you are planning to use a wiki page in a WordPress site, remember that WordPress will do the styling for you, so you don't have to do it yourself.

You should use WordPress for any:

• Blogs
• News & Announcement pages
• Static (non-changing) content pages needing very restricted access (only editors of the WP site can edit the page)

A reminder that Library space wiki pages are viewable by the public, but editing is restricted to library staff only. By "very restricted access", this refers to material that is sensitive and should not be edited by anyone aside from 1-2 people in a particular department.