Wiki assignment

For this assignment, I'm using the library of the university where I'm currently employed (but not in the library, except for purposes of this assignment).


About the library: The Brenau Trustee Library serves a population of a little more than 2600 students at various locations throughout Georgia and Online. The physical library is housed at the main  campus in Gainesville, GA. The staff consists of 5 librarians, 3 assistants, and student workers (number varies by term). The purpose of the library wiki will be a centralized communication site for library workers. One would imagine that with a small staff size it is easy to stay connected, but with so few workers trying to cover all open hours, there is rarely overlap among shifts. This can cause problems when team members are working on the same project during different times.


The wiki will include a calendar to keep track of employee scheduling. Employee contact information will be stored on the dashboard along with assigned tasks and status updates. Specific projects to be included in the wiki include procedure manuals, statistics tracking to be used for assessment and effectiveness reports, and data collection for the upcoming SACS reaffirmation of accreditation visit. Other collaborative projects will be added as needed. 


The library wiki needs to provide WYSIWYG editing capabilities because not all staff members are expected to be well-versed in website editing. As with most private schools in this economy, there are not many funds leftover for projects like this, so the license cost must be free. A page history is a must since different employees will be accessing the site at different times. Although corporate branding is preferred to reinforce the professional nature of the wiki, it is not necessary since it will be an internal document. 


Searching for these variables using wikimatrix.org results in 18 matches: @Wiki, BusinessWiki, CentralDesktop, ClearWiki, Cospire, GeniusWiki, Groupswiki, Intodit, Luminotes,MindTouch, Netcipia, nexdo, Springnote, Swirrl, Wagn, Wetpaint, Wikispaces and Zoho Wiki Wetpaint was my first choice because I've researched it before and know that it is used often by education and non-profit institutions. However, it was not my last choice. 


There is an option missing from the list provided by wikimatrix and that is Google Sites. A search in the wikimatrix forums revealed that Google is not included in their review because no one from the company has provided the appropriate info.  However, like the other wikis, Google is a no-cost option that uses WYSIWYG editing and keeps a page history of changes. What makes Google Sites the best option for the Brenau Library is that the university already contracts with Google for student email accounts. The student workers are already familiar with using Google apps like Gmail and Google docs because of their free email accounts. They will be able to integrate certain parts of the library wiki, for example, the work calendar, into their personal Google account. Anytime we can delete one more login step for people who already have multiple logins (one for email, another for course management site, another for student account maintenance, etc.) the better.