Since its inception in 2011, TWL has established partnerships with nearly 70 publishers, including the largest and most scholarly collections, to provide free access for Wikipedians to over 80,000 unique periodicals and an even greater number of books.2 TWL expanded its scope as we developed other relationships focused on references: for example, working with Internet Archive to fix over one million dead citation URLs, developing OABot to link to versions marked as free-to-read alongside paywalled content in citations, and integrating WorldCat's 380 million ISBNs into our automatic citation generator tool.
The success of the program grows from what we learn in partnership with library professionals. The TWL team co-wrote two International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) white papers on Wikipedia collaboration with academic and public libraries, and have presented at the American Library Association Annual Conference, the Coalition for Networked Information Membership Meeting, Internet Librarian, the Frankfurt Book Fair, OpenCon, Open Scholarship Initiative, and Digital Library Federation Forum, among many other conferences.
When we began speaking about our work in library venues in 2012, the reception was curious but cool; five years later, Wikipedia's role in the library ecosystem is often met with enthusiasm and excitement. It has moved from "what are you doing here?" to "how can we get involved?" This transition, from being on the fringes to in the center, reflects the broader acceptance of Wikipedia and the recognition of its central role in the public's quest for useful information.
