Wiki pages and SharePoint can be used to create an on-line library at the OECD. The Development Centre library has been almost entirely digital since the summer of 2009: the contents of over 12 000 on-line journal titles and databases can be accessed via its Wiki site.

1. Using SharePoint in the Development Centre library
to support information Sharing
By Michèle Girard, Librarian, OECD Development Centre
Wiki pages and SharePoint can be used to create an on-line library at the OECD. The
Development Centre library has been almost entirely digital since the summer of 2009: the
contents of over 12 000 on-line journal titles and databases can be accessed via its Wiki site.
This is the first Wiki site of this type to be set up in the OECD.
Michèle Girard, librarian and site administrator shares her experience.
The SharePoint/Wiki platform was a natural choice as the tool for a new internal
communications strategy at the library. SharePoint has proven to be an
innovative solution -- collaborative, practical, easy to use and develop on
one’s own -- for use by the Organisation’s professional staff who are looking for
relevant information that they can use in their work.
The new Wiki site is highly regarded. After a half-day’s training on SharePoint and with the
benefit of the valuable, purpose-specific help, customised advice and encouragement of ITN’s
SharePoint Team, I manage the Wiki site totally independently on a day-to-day basis. Moreover,
the site is also being used as a model by the Capacity Development division of HRM.
The library does not use the « S: Drive » any more. The basis for the development of the on-
line library is the Wiki site. This approach is in line with new knowledge dissemination methods,
where the trend is towards simplicity, collaboration and independence.
1 December 2009

2. Our information and knowledge sharing activities have been profoundly changed by mass
digitilisation, document virtualisation and collaborative and community access. Digital
technologies such as SharePoint and their Wiki applications have had an extraordinary impact on
the development of our digital library and are making life a lot easier for us. The information that
we provide is sharply focused. The Wiki pages are very easy to create and require no special
IT knowledge, which comes as a pleasant surprise !
The Wiki site has been substantially developed and fine-tuned since it was set up. The site –
which I update every day and develop regularly, is a repository of knowledge on development
and international relations. It includes, among other things, an intellectual property watch
service: a selection of articles from periodicals and alerts useful for the Development Centre’s
work and research, all of which can be displayed in multidimensional views.
The Development Centre library’s Wiki site aroused a great deal of interest during its
presentation at the 74th World Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations
and Institutions (IFLA) held in Quebec, in August 2008, which brought together 4 500 librarians
and information technology specialists.
See the following articles :
• International presentation on the Development Centre Library’s new Wiki Site
• http://www.ifla.org/files/giops/newsletters/may-2009.pdf
2 December 2009