Submissions/Engaging Wikipedia's Natural Ally: How to unlock and amplify the access, knowledge, skills and resources of University and Research Libraries

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This is an accepted submission for Wikimania 2015.

Submission no.
6020
Title of the submission

Engaging Wikipedia's Natural Ally: How to unlock and amplify the access, knowledge, skills and resources of University and Research Libraries

Type of submission (discussion, hot seat, panel, presentation, tutorial, workshop)
Author of the submission
Alex Stinson
E-mail address
astinson@wikimedia.org
Username
User:Astinson (WMF) (a.k.a. User:Sadads)
Country of origin
United States
Affiliation, if any (organisation, company etc.)
The Wikipedia Library, Wikimedia Foundation. GLAM-Wiki U.S. Consortium supporter
Personal homepage or blog
Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal)

The Wikipedia Library is building relationships with libraries, archives and publishers as we try to understand and improve the landscape of resource and database access for Wikimedia contributors. While we have been successful in gaining access to dozens of paywalled sources, in talking with library allies, we begin to see opportunities for better solutions than only providing single database access—by capitalizing on the years of accrued experience in the university and research library community.

The first part of my presentation will focus on experimental Wikipedia Library programs and tools growing out of these conversations that are focused on university and other research libraries: Wikipedia Visiting Scholars, Wikipedia Library Interns and Librarian Training, our Guide for Archivists, and our University Library Portal. We hope to see each localized within Wikimedia communities so that we create more opportunities for interaction and outreach with libraries. In turn, this outreach will drive reference professionals into the Wikimedia orbit, not as outsiders but as allies and direct contributors.

The second part of my presentation will ask big questions looking beyond the current programs and scope of the Wikipedia Library: How effective are our reference materials for our readers? Can readers really leverage higher quality scholarly references to help further their research, or will they be relegated to accessing commercial news and popular sources because of their ease of access? What would it look like if we integrated information literacy and research guidance, often the purview of libraries, into and throughout Wikipedia? How could we ally with large library organizations, library educators and research organizations to create tools that help our readers access, understand and engage with the research communities that provide the foundation for Wikipedia’s knowledge?

Research libraries have deep experience curating for access for a wide variety of patrons within our contemporary paywalled environment and have spent billions of dollars creating public research resources. Wikipedia has collected the largest and most highly-visited knowledge resource in human history. This presentation will imagine what is possible when these two communities join forces.

Track
  • GLAM Outreach
  • Education Outreach
Length of session (if other than 30 minutes, specify how long)
30 minutes + 15 minute discussion
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Yep
Slides or further information (optional)
on Google Slides Commons slides coming soon
Special requests


Interested attendees

If you are interested in attending this session, please sign with your username below. This will help reviewers to decide which sessions are of high interest. Sign with a hash and four tildes. (# ~~~~).

  1. John Andersson (WMSE) (talk) 00:00, 28 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  2. FKoudijs (WMF) (talk) 16:48, 2 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Ocaasi (talk) 17:52, 3 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  4. Llywrch (talk) 02:22, 6 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  5. --Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 15:13, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Armineaghayan (talk) 13:32, 12 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  7. YurithKat
  8. --Olimar (talk) 19:29, 12 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Ale201093 (talk), 2:38, 17 July 2015 (UTC)
  10. Gustavo
  11. --Ліонкінг (talk) 06:36, 17 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Schedule: The presentation is scheduled for Friday from 12-12:30 in room Don Alberto 3.