The Wikipedia Library-The largest encyclopedia needs a digital library and we are building it

by Jake Orlowitz

The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library:​ ​The​ ​largest encyclopedia​ ​needs​ ​a​ ​digital​ ​library​ ​and​ ​we are​ ​building​ ​it

By​ ​Jake​ ​Orlowitz,​ ​Head​ ​of​ ​The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library,​ ​Wikimedia​ ​Foundation

 

This​ ​article​ ​preprint​ ​is​ ​licensed​ ​CC​ ​BY-SA​ ​4.0.​ ​The​ ​peer-reviewed​ ​chapter​ ​apears​ ​in​ ​the​ ​book "Leveraging​ ​Wikipedia:​ ​Connecting​ ​Communities​ ​of​ ​Knowledge",​ ​edited​ ​by​ ​Merrilee​ ​Proffitt, published​ ​by​ ​ALA​ ​Editions.​ ​Item​ ​Number:​ ​978-0-8389-1632-2​ ​ISBN:​ ​9780838916384
http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=12220

The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​is​ ​made​ ​possible​ ​by​ ​many​ ​hands.​ ​The​ ​TWL​ ​team​ ​deserves​ ​full​ ​credit: Alex,​ ​Nikki,​ ​Sam,​ ​Aaron,​ ​Felix,​ ​Jason,​ ​Twila,​ ​Patrick,​ ​and Andromeda.​ ​Special​ ​thanks​ ​to​ ​early readers​ ​of​ ​this​ ​draft​ ​Nick​ ​Wilson​ ​and​ ​Kelly​ ​Doyle—and​ ​to​ ​Nikki​ ​for​ ​her​ ​phenomenal​ ​research​ ​for this​ ​entire​ ​chapter.​ ​We're​ ​indebted​ ​to​ ​the​ ​historic​ ​support​ ​of​ ​Siko​ ​Bouterse​ ​and​ ​Anasuya Sengupta​ ​from​ ​Wikimedia​ ​Foundation​ ​grantmaking;​ ​Cindy​ ​Aden,​ ​Bill​ ​Carney,​ ​and​ ​Merrilee Proffitt​ ​from​ ​OCLC;​ ​Mark​ ​Graham​ ​and​ ​Wendy​ ​Hanamura​ ​from​ ​Internet​ ​Archive;​ ​Elliott​ ​Shore from​ ​ARL;​ ​Jon​ ​Cawthorne​ ​from​ ​West​ ​Virginia​ ​University;​ ​pioneering​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Librarians​ ​in the​ ​form​ ​of​ ​Phoebe​ ​Ayers,​ ​Andrea​ ​Zanni,​ ​Robert​ ​Fernandez,​ ​and​ ​Àlex​ ​Hinojo;​ ​ardent​ ​open access​ ​supporters​ ​Megan​ ​Wacha,​ ​Nick​ ​Shockey,​ ​Antonin​ ​Delpeuch,​ ​and​ ​John​ ​Willinsky;​ ​and​ ​to dozens​ ​of​ ​others​ ​who​ ​have​ ​guided​ ​and​ ​aided​ ​our​ ​work,​ ​the​ ​thousands​ ​of​ ​librarians​ ​who​ ​have taken​ ​on​ ​improving​ ​Wikipedia​ ​in​ ​their​ ​professional​ ​careers,​ ​and​ ​the​ ​tens​ ​of​ ​thousands​ ​of​ ​tireless editors​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Wikipedia​ ​community—we​ ​do​ ​it​ ​for​ ​you.

Introduction	4
Beginnings	7
For​ ​Editors:​ ​ ​A​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​Card	10
For​ ​Readers:​ ​ ​From​ ​Informed​ ​Access​ ​to​ ​Open​ ​Citations	14
With​ ​Librarians:​ ​ ​Collaboration​ ​on​ ​a​ ​Shared​ ​Vision	17
Conclusion	21
Endnotes	23
Bibliography	25