Submissions:2014/The Future of Libraries and Wikipedia


 * Title of the submission:


 * Themes (Proposal Themes - Community, Tech, Outreach, GLAM, Education): GLAM


 * Type of submission (Presentation Types - Panel, Workshop, Presentation, etc): Presentation with discussion


 * Author of the submission: Jake Orlowitz, User:Ocaasi


 * E-mail address:


 * Username: Ocaasi


 * US state or country of origin: Pennsylvania


 * Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.): The Wikipedia Library


 * Personal homepage or blog: http://enwp.org/WP:TWL


 * Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal):

Theoretically and strategically, Libraries and Wikipedia are natural allies. This relationship directly impacts our core activity of research and editing. Libraries are the 'source of sources', and Wikipedia is only as good as its sources. Meanwhile, Wikipedia has the viewership that libraries crave to bring people to their doors to do deeper research. By connecting Libraries and Wikipedia we can complete a virtuous circle of research and dissemination.

The Wikipedia Library started in 2010 as a way to give editors access to the highest quality reliable sources. Since then we've donate nearly 4000 free research accounts to almost 2000 top editors. Partners have included Credo, Questia, HighBeam, JSTOR, and Cochrane, high quality aggregators of reliable sources. Individually, these accounts would have cost editors several hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the last 6 months we have expanded globally, launching our first local Wikipedia Library satellite with an Arabic Language community. We'll explore how The Wikipedia Library can expand beyond English Wikipedia and English Language sources to serve our broad editor base.

In addition to the access donation programs, the talk will introduce Wikipedia Visiting Scholars, new remote unpaid affiliate positions where top editors are given full researcher status at University Libraries. We will also highlight a partnership with OCLC to build a tool that connects readers directly to full-text references.

The talk will open up with more 'thinking big' ideas and questions that explore the potential areas of intersection and collaboration with libraries and the research community.


 * What if every publisher donated 1000 accounts to the top Wikipedia editors in that subject?
 * What if every library of research institution had an affiliated Wikipedian on staff?
 * What if every reference on Wikipedia had a link to the full-text source next to it?
 * What if every reference on Wikipedia was tagged closed access, free to read, or free to read and reuse?
 * What if we could connect every WikiProject to a top research library's reference desk?
 * What if archival metadata could help expand every stub article and infoboxes?
 * What if subject guides and finding aids were created collaboratively, and hosted by Wikimedia?
 * What if every language community had their own Wikipedia Library?

We'll end with a reflection on the state and nature of open access in our research, and leave time for questions and discussion about what directions for growth and investment we should prioritize and take on next.


 * Length of presentation/talk (see Presentation Types for lengths of different presentation types): 25 minutes, or part of a longer session on references, research access, and library outreach.


 * Will you attend WikiConference USA if your submission is not accepted?: Yes


 * Slides or further information (optional):
 * The Digital Shift feature article:
 * Presentation for George Mason University (2013):


 * Special request as to time of presentations:

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