creation of a property. Similarly, as properties are not used, or data items are left unconnected to the larger graph, the community may delete them. If on the other hand, items from niche or lesser known data sets are connected to properties in the larger graph, they can find a home in Wikidata where they might not in other name or authority systems.56 These values, practices, and norms of interaction that happen on Wikimedia projects require patience and learning how the community works. At the same time, at least for now, the Wikidata community is more open to newcomers than some of the Wikimedia sister projects.
Wikidata and Wikibase Applications
There are many different opportunities for libraries to contribute to Wikidata as a public good and to benefit their organizations. Some may consider using Wikibase as a platform for deploying a linked data store. This next section will highlight several thematic areas of interest to libraries and give examples of existing projects and initiatives to demonstrate the kinds of projects which lend themselves to Wikidata or Wikibase.
Authority Data and Using Wikidata as a Linking Hub
Contributing to open knowledge projects, such as Wikidata, aligns with the mission and values of libraries in their value-driven commitment to contribute to open culture. Authority data in the form of names (personal, corporate, or jurisdictional) are part of the backbone of functional bibliographic metadata. Authority data form the most highly structured and standardized metadata within bibliographic records, aiding with disambiguation. These data are the most readily usable and linkable as linked data on the open web.57 Implementing authority data in the form of uniform resource identifiers (URIs) connected to collections is a powerful way to link to related collections through Wikidata, as well as opening the possibility of enriching library bibliographic systems with external data sources.
