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Wikipedia and several other wiki-based knowledge projects. Wikidata serves as a central knowledge base for Wikimedia projects as well as being a freely available open database of linked open data for other projects. The task force was asked to consider issues, challenges, educational needs, and resource requirements for libraries to participate in Wikidata (and its software, Wikibase) in their uses and applications of linked open data to advance and enrich discovery of locally curated collections on the global web. Task force members collectively articulated the following goals for a white paper:
- Elevating the visibility of linked open data in research libraries and in general, and Wikidata/Wikibase in particular, as part of a global, openly licensed, linked data network for public good
- Providing an in-depth and actionable introduction to Wikidata for the library community, including a method to get started—like Wikipedia, Wikidata is both easy to use and complex to master.
- Modeling the role of librarians as contributors as well as users of a global, largely volunteer open knowledge network, by encouraging contribution of library services, workflows, tools, and software to the Wikidata community—this contribution can and should include research, development, and experimentation.
- Identifying barriers for librarians and library staff to contribute, on a regular basis, to Wikidata/Wikibase—these barriers may include, among others, lack of sufficient time, skill, staff capacity, or institutional policy environment.
- Creating a call for a community of practice around a metadata infrastructure for knowledge equity and diversity, with a focus on developing an understanding of the culture and skills of contributing to a knowledge commons like Wikidata
- Providing example use cases for how libraries and other cultural heritage institutions are already using Wikidata, which might inspire other ways to work with the project, for example, Wikidata: WikiProject Open Access10
ARL White Paper on Wikidata: Opportunities and Recommendations
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