The library system in question has four branches and a staff of fewer than 25 people. The creation of a wiki is being discussed to aid in the collaborative creation and use of promotional and in-house documents for children's staff located at different locations. Those responsible for children's programming have been struggling with communication between branches. A free, or inexpensive, wiki is needed, and it must be easy to use and access for staff. Tech support is a plus. The wiki itself will not be open to the public.
Wikispaces:
The wiki I'm proposing to fulfill my library's needs is Wikispaces. This wiki is ideal for small groups. The basic plan offers only .5GB of total storage, which will be enough for a small group for quite some time. Wikispaces also offers "what you see is what you get" editing features, which is ideal for those not familiar with or well trained in the technology. The wiki allows for calendar and image gallery plugins as well as discussion pages. The wiki can be accessed on any computer without downloading, which is necessary for managers who are also responsible for staffing the circulation desk.
Pricing:
There is a Private Label site available for $1,000/year and comes with a 30-day free trial. There is also a free Basic version available that is for use with a maximum of five members, and a Plus version available for $5/month with an unlimited number of users.
I would propose that the library initially try out the free version with a select group of staff before switching to the Plus or Private Label version. The library may find that the smaller group of staff having access would be enough, because someone at each library could access the wiki. This could also be successful because the library has only three professional staff members that lead children's programs and the director and assistant director who also wish to be involved. However, a free plan could be upgraded in the future if the need arises.
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