As a newcomer to these online tools (I wrote out all of my college papers by hand before I typed them into a library computer), I've found the blog format pretty user friendly. Our Communications Office actually suggested that I start an office blog to promote things that we're doing in sustainability and service-learning while our official sustainability website is under construction. I'm not entirely sure that it's widely read, but the blog format does a few important things for me regardless: 1.) It allows me to focus on specifics; for example, I can highlight individual efforts to reduce environmental impact, and change that profile as frequently as I wish, 2.) The format lends itself to a casual tone; readers know that the blog authors are writing from their own point of view, and may relate better to the author than s/he would to more "formal" promotional material, 3.) It's a great source of connection to students; we mostly highlight the great stuff that our students are doing, and I love sending links to these students and encouraging that kind of pride in what they do.

The feedback loop sites look really cool. How much does it cost to get something like that for your campus?

Good question, Tim. I think the answer is "it depends."

First, it depends on how utilities are metered on your campus. In older building stock, there are often very few meters. And many of those have to be read by hand. In order to use a real-time monitoring system, your utilities need to be metered at interesting places (per building, per floor) and they have to be metered electronically.

If your campus or building already has all that in place, then displaying the data on a website is simply a matter of software. There are at least two vendors out there with turn-key software systems for just this purpose. The Oberlin website linked above uses software by Lucid Design Group (www.luciddesigngroup.com). The University of South Carolina site uses a package by GreenTouchscreen (www.greentouchscreen.com).

One alternate use of Wikis is to capture the outcomes of participatory conferences. The Facilitating Sustainable Agriculture Education national conference held at Cornell had a unique format where participants self-assembled into study teams and then uploaded their learning outcomes to share with conference participants and the public. The wiki for this conference has become a jumping off point for people at different universities to collaborate on specific issues and network with others interested in those issues. The conference itself used an online resource directory to help participants self-assemble around their areas of interest. http://sustaged.mannlib.cornell.edu/index.jsp?home=1&primary=1

It turned out to be an incredible group learning experience and the web tools developed with help from Mann Library were essential to our success.