Policies Manual on the Web

[Floyd Pentlin]

Hi, group. I am teaching an administration class and for an assignment I wanted the students to create their own policies manual and post it for student discussion.

I asked them to use Google Docs to post their assignment so they could be shared. Some students had trouble with it because of length of their document and also uploading graphics.

Anyone have any ideas of what I could use the next time to give them the foundation of creating a manual and posting on the Web? I'm not keen on PDF because I feel it is a barrier except for the most dedicated searcher. Not all of my students have libraries that even have a Web page let alone software to create a Web page or a server to upload the material to.

I don't want to have them learn how to create a Web site in this class. I'm looking for an easy way to post material that could be accessed by other members of the class to be used as a discussion topic.

I wonder if something like PageFlakes would be a better direction to go. Thanks for any thoughts.

floyd

[[e-mail]]

Hi Floyd,

We've been using a wiki (PBwiki) for writing and revising policies. Since you can add pages and graphics and easily create a TOC, it might be a useful tool.

Guess I better sell my three-ring binder stock!

Doug

[Jo-Anne Gibson]

I would definitely go with a wiki - either PB or wikispaces which are very similar. It's easy to add text, graphics and videos and everyone can access the pages. The only drawback is that two people can't edit the same page at the same time but my students seem to figure out how to work around that and they're in junior high.

[teacherninja]

Google Sites is another easy-to-use wiki.

[Floyd Pentlin]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks! I appreciate it. A follow-up question: why wiki when the point of a wiki is to be collaborative? A policies manual isn't something that one will tinker with very often, and it's not something that multiple librarians will be working on at the same time.

Is it just that changes can be made so easily, graphics imported, and format is attractive, etc. that makes it the choice and even though one would not using it for collaboration? Am I making this too hard?

Just askin'. Thanks.

[Kathryn Frech]

Wikis can be set to have more or less restrictive editing, as the creator/owner chooses. The great advantages are that it's easy to access even for those who don't have editing permission and it's easy to break into convenient chapters. And the "discussion" pages can provide a great way to comment on the whys and wherefores without needing to incorporate every question's answer in the document itself.