The Wikipedia Library-The largest encyclopedia needs a digital library and we are building it/For​ ​Editors:​ ​ ​A​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​Card

For​ ​Editors:​ ​ ​A​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​Card

"When​ ​I​ ​got​ ​my​ ​library​ ​card,​ ​that’s​ ​when​ ​my​ ​life​ ​began."
— Rita​ ​Mae​ ​Brown

The​ ​founding​ ​mission​ ​of​ ​The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​is​ ​to​ ​connect​ ​content​ ​editors​ ​on​ ​Wikimedia projects​ ​with​ ​the​ ​reliable​ ​sources​ ​they​ ​needed​ ​to​ ​develop​ ​articles​—​to​ ​ensure​ ​that​ ​the​ ​content​ ​is supported​ ​by​ ​the​ ​highest​ ​quality​ ​sources,​ ​and​ ​to​ ​open​ ​up​ ​topics​ ​not​ ​covered​ ​by​ ​locally​ ​available or​ ​free​ ​online​ ​references.

One​ ​Iranian​ ​recipient​ ​of​ ​TWL​ ​access​ ​from​ ​JSTOR​ ​described:

"Things​ ​changed​ ​when​ ​the​ ​international​ ​sanctions​ ​against​ ​Iran​ ​expanded​ ​and​ ​included banking​ ​transactions.​ ​Subscription​ ​fees​ ​could​ ​not​ ​be​ ​paid​ ​and​ ​the​ ​growing​ ​difficulties reduced​ ​my​ ​motivation​ ​to​ ​work​ ​on​ ​Wikipedia​ ​for​ ​free.​ ​However,​ ​thanks​ ​to​ ​the​ ​Wikipedia Library,​ ​I​ ​received​ ​JSTOR​ ​access,​ ​which​ ​incorporates​ ​Iranian​ ​Studies;​ ​this​ ​new​ ​access allowed​ ​me​ ​to​ ​continue​ ​my​ ​work​ ​on​ ​articles​ ​like​ ​Kelidar​,​ ​the​ ​longest​ ​Persian​ ​novel.

Subscription​ ​access​ ​is​ ​a​ ​must​ ​for​ ​Persian​ ​Wikipedia​ ​editors,​ ​not​ ​just​ ​due​ ​to​ ​the​ ​lack​ ​of reliable​ ​sources​ ​in​ ​Iran​ ​or​ ​Afghanistan,​ ​but​ ​because​ ​of​ ​the​ ​systematic​ ​bias​ ​and​ ​censorship that​ ​is​ ​so​ ​prevalent​ ​among​ ​books​ ​published​ ​in​ ​these​ ​countries.​ ​I​ ​even​ ​consider​ ​the Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​a​ ​helpful​ ​project​ ​to​ ​counter​ ​the​ ​systemic​ ​bias​ ​in​ ​English​ ​Wikipedia itself.​ ​While​ ​every​ ​river​ ​or​ ​hill​ ​in​ ​North​ ​America​ ​or​ ​Europe​ ​has​ ​its​ ​own​ ​article,​ ​many​ ​vital issues​ ​concerning​ ​developing​ ​countries​ ​have​ ​not​ ​been​ ​covered.​ ​By​ ​getting​ ​global​ ​editors like​ ​me​ ​free​ ​access​ ​to​ ​rich​ ​digital​ ​libraries,​ ​we​ ​will​ ​be​ ​even​ ​more​ ​encouraged​ ​to​ ​write decent​ ​articles​ ​about​ ​our​ ​culture​ ​and​ ​geography​ ​in​ ​your​ ​language."⁹

Serving​ ​individual​ ​editors,​ ​"arming​ ​them​ ​with​ ​reliable​ ​sources",​ ​has​ ​long​ ​been​ ​an​ ​aspiration​ ​for The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library.​ ​This​ ​partnership​ ​model​ ​has​ ​grown​ ​to​ ​nearly​ ​70​ ​publishers​ ​and aggregators—including​ ​EBSCO,​ ​SAGE,​ ​Taylor​ ​&​ ​Francis,​ ​Elsevier,​ ​Oxford​ ​University​ ​Press, and​ ​Project​ ​MUSE—providing​ ​access​ ​to​ ​over​ ​80,000​ ​unique​ ​periodicals​ ​and​ ​a​ ​greater​ ​number​ ​of books,​ ​to​ ​thousands​ ​of​ ​editors​ ​for​ ​a​ ​year​ ​per​ ​partner​ ​per​ ​signup.

The​ ​standard​ ​distribution​ ​process​ ​for​ ​this​ ​access​ ​has​ ​not​ ​been​ ​elegant.​ ​It​ ​has​ ​required​ ​editors​ ​to apply​ ​individually​ ​for​ ​each​ ​partnership​ ​they​ ​want​ ​access​ ​to,​ ​for​ ​applications​ ​to​ ​be​ ​vetted​ ​against account​ ​activity​ ​and​ ​experience​ ​criteria,​ ​to​ ​be​ ​approved​ ​and​ ​processed​ ​individually​ ​by​ ​dozens​ ​of coordinators,​ ​and​ ​for​ ​per-editor​ ​access​ ​codes​ ​to​ ​be​ ​delivered​ ​or​ ​accounts​ ​created​ ​by​ ​the​ ​publisher such​ ​that​ ​they​ ​expire​ ​one​ ​year​ ​after​ ​activation.​ ​This​ ​time-consuming​ ​process​ ​involved unnecessary​ ​duplication​ ​of​ ​effort​ ​and​ ​inefficiency​ ​in​ ​workflows,​ ​resulting​ ​in​ ​a​ ​multi-week​ ​wait between​ ​application​ ​and​ ​receipt​ ​of​ ​access.​ ​While​ ​this​ ​is​ ​certainly​ ​better​ ​than​ ​no​ ​access​ ​at​ ​all,​ ​we recognised​ ​quickly​ ​that​ ​there​ ​was​ ​obvious​ ​scope​ ​for​ ​improvement.

In​ ​an​ ​effort​ ​to​ ​solve​ ​these​ ​problems,​ ​TWL​ ​is​ ​currently​ ​developing​ ​a​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​Card platform (https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/​)​ ​to​ ​streamline​ ​application​ ​processes​ ​for​ ​database access​ ​and​ ​to​ ​deliver​ ​an​ ​access​ ​experience​ ​more​ ​similar​ ​to​ ​that​ ​of​ ​research​ ​libraries.​ ​It​ ​provides​ ​a centralized​ ​interface​ ​through​ ​which​ ​editors​ ​can​ ​apply​ ​for​ ​access​ ​to​ ​resources​ ​and​ ​volunteers​ ​can process​ ​those​ ​applications.​ ​This​ ​central​ ​platform​ ​greatly​ ​improves​ ​the​ ​efficiency​ ​of​ ​the​ ​access grant​ ​process​—​projections​ ​suggest​ ​an​ ​eventual​ ​wait​ ​time​ ​of​ ​only​ ​a​ ​few​ ​days​ ​rather​ ​than​ ​a​ ​few weeks​ ​for​ ​most​ ​resources.

The​ ​Library​ ​Card​ ​system​ ​supports​ ​a​ ​wider​ ​variety​ ​of​ ​resource​ ​provision​ ​modes​ ​than​ ​previously available​ ​under​ ​TWL.​ ​The​ ​application​ ​process​ ​is​ ​streamlined​ ​and​ ​can​ ​be​ ​partially​ ​or​ ​fully automated,​ ​depending​ ​on​ ​the​ ​approach​ ​preferred​ ​by​ ​the​ ​publisher.​ ​Foremost,​ ​it​ ​can​ ​support​ ​a proxy-based​ ​authentication​ ​system​ ​with​ ​single​ ​sign-on​ ​for​ ​users.​ ​This​ ​will​ ​rapidly​ ​improve access​ ​to​ ​research​ ​for​ ​content​ ​editors.

An​ ​instantaneous​ ​access​ ​system​ ​is​ ​also​ ​being​ ​developed​ ​called​ ​the​ ​Library​ ​Card​ ​Bundle​.​ ​In​ ​this iteration,​ ​access​ ​is​ ​approved​ ​through​ ​the​ ​system​ automatically​ ​rather​ ​than​ ​manually,​ ​so​ ​it​ ​can​ ​be granted​ ​on​ ​an​ ​as-needed​ ​basis​ ​to​ ​tens​ ​of​ ​thousands​ ​of​ ​editors​ ​instead​ ​of​ ​just​ ​hundreds​ ​at​ ​a​ ​time. The​ ​bundle​ ​approach​ ​solves​ ​the​ ​problem​ ​of​ ​users​ ​requesting​ ​access​ ​to​ ​a​ ​source​ ​simply​ ​to​ ​read​ ​a few​ ​specific​ ​articles​ ​rather​ ​than​ ​long-term​ ​research​ ​in​ ​the​ ​topic​ ​area.​ ​Now,​ ​instead​ ​of​ ​occupying one​ ​of​ ​a​ ​limited​ ​number​ ​of​ ​slots​ ​for​ ​an​ ​entire​ ​year,​ ​a​ ​far​ ​greater​ ​number​ ​of​ ​users​ ​can​ ​simply​ ​gain access​ ​to​ ​what​ ​they​ ​need​ ​when​ ​it​ ​is​ ​needed.

Once​ ​this​ ​initial​ ​phase​ ​of​ ​authorization​ ​and​ ​development​ ​is​ ​completed,​ ​the​ ​next​ ​step​ ​is​ ​to integrate​ ​additional​ ​digital​ ​library​ ​services.​ ​A​ ​key​ ​component​ ​of​ ​the​ ​system​ ​will​ ​be​ ​a​ ​web-scale discovery​ ​service​ ​to​ ​allow​ ​users​ ​to​ ​find​ ​content​ ​across​ ​all​ ​publishers​ ​from​ ​a​ ​single​ ​search​ ​box. The​ ​service​ ​will​ ​index,​ ​in​ ​full​ ​text​ ​wherever​ ​possible,​ ​the​ ​resources​ ​available​ ​through​ ​the​ ​various partnerships​ ​The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​has​ ​established,​ ​as​ ​well​ ​as​ ​open​ ​access​ ​content.​ ​Instead​ ​of visiting​ ​a​ ​series​ ​of​ ​individual​ ​publisher​ ​or​ ​database​ ​sites​ ​to​ ​search​ ​for​ ​resources,​ ​editors​ ​will​ ​be able​ ​to​ ​search​ ​centrally​ ​and​ ​discover​ ​most​ ​of​ ​the​ ​available​ ​sources​ ​on​ ​their​ ​topic​ ​of​ ​interest.​ ​Link resolvers​ ​will​ ​allow​ ​users​ ​to​ ​move​ ​seamlessly​ ​from​ ​search​ ​to​ ​the​ ​full​ ​text,​ ​further​ ​improving search​ ​efficiency.​ ​Integrated​ ​online​ ​reference​ ​support​ ​can​ ​also​ ​be​ ​delivered​ ​through​ ​the​ ​proposed system​ ​to​ ​assist​ ​users​ ​in​ ​locating​ ​content​ ​relevant​ ​to​ ​their​ ​research,​ ​and​ ​potentially​ ​to​ ​provide practical​ ​learning​ ​opportunities​ ​for​ ​library​ ​and​ ​information​ ​students​ ​in​ ​the​ ​model​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Internet Public​ ​Library.

The​ ​Library​ ​Card​ ​system​ ​also​ ​has​ ​the​ ​potential​ ​to​ ​greatly​ ​enhance​ ​the​ ​acquisitions​ ​process​ ​used by​ ​The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library.​ ​Currently,​ ​major​ ​publishers​ ​are​ ​highly​ ​requested​ ​whereas still-valuable​ ​alternatives​ ​with​ ​a​ ​lower​ ​profile​ ​are​ ​often​ ​overlooked.​ ​A​ ​discovery​ ​service​ ​can enhance​ ​the​ ​usage​ ​of​ ​niche​ ​publications​ ​by​ ​exposing​ ​them​ ​to​ ​unfamiliar​ ​users.​ ​Implementation​ ​of a​ ​discovery​ ​service​ ​generally​ ​increases​ ​full​ ​text​ ​downloads​ ​of​ ​indexed​ ​publications.​¹⁰ ​An automatically​ ​generated​ ​A-Z​ ​list​ ​will​ ​educate​ ​readers​ ​on​ ​which​ ​databases​ ​index​ ​a​ ​particular journal​ ​of​ ​interest,​ ​allowing​ ​them​ ​to​ ​be​ ​better​ ​informed​ ​on​ ​which​ ​partnerships​ ​they​ ​would​ ​want to​ ​request.​ ​This​ ​would​ ​replace​ ​a​ ​manually​ ​curated​ ​list,​ ​which​ ​is​ ​cumbersome​ ​to​ ​search​ ​and update.

The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​Card​ ​is​ ​a​ ​novel​ ​and​ ​challenging​ ​solution.​ ​It​ ​is​ ​effectively​ ​a​ ​global​ ​library, open​ ​to​ ​qualified​ ​Wikipedia​ ​editors​ ​from​ ​any​ ​country​ ​or​ ​region​ ​on​ ​the​ ​planet,​ ​and​ ​without​ ​any daunting​ ​subscription​ ​costs.