Learn about the Wikimedia foundation, how to take advantage of Wikipedia as a tool for research, ESL, and writing, and how to contribute to Wikimedia as a librarian. Presented by Monique Clark and Samara Carter at the Virginia Library Association Annual Conference on September 27.
4. Statistics on Wikipedia
• 4.3 million articles in English
• Almost 300 languages
30 MILLION
ARTICLES
• 30,978 English-speaking users
• German (~6.3k) and Spanish (~4.2k)
69,859
ACTIVE USERS
(as of June 2013)
• English articles for June 2013
• Largest & most popular reference site
11 MILLION
VIEWS PER HOUR
Source : http://stats.wikimedia.org/
6. Wikimedia: The Mission
“The mission of the
Wikimedia Foundation is
to empower and engage
people around the
world to collect and
develop educational
content under a free
license or in the public
domain, and to
disseminate it
effectively and
globally.”
Source: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mission_statement
7. Wikimedia values….
Wikimedia
Freedom
Accessibility
Quality
Independence
Commitment to openness and
diversity
Transparency
Community as asset
• Source: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Values
ALA
Access
Diversity
Role of community
Intellectual Freedom
• Source:
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
8. Wikimania Conference
Yearly global
conference
Extension of
mission and values
Ignited interest in
Wiki
Group picture @ Wikimania 2012 at GWU in D.C.
Credit: Wikipedia
9. Reliable and Relevant
2005, the journal Nature discovered that Wikipedia was
nearly as accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530930.stm
2007 peer-review study found 42% of damage is repaired
almost immediately.
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1316624.1316663
2008 study by PC Plus indicated that accuracy was on par with
World Book Encyclopedia.
http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/web/wikipedia-vs-
encyclopaedia-a-question-of-trust-316163
Wikipedia has a Protection Policy for pages that are often
vandalized (i.e. religions, political figures)
11. Wikipedia: An Overview
Original Wiki Site
English Wikipedia:
>4m articles
Anyone can add or
edit content
Supports 287
languages
5th most popular
site
500 million/month
Credit: Wikipedia
12. Wikipedia (cont’d)
5 Pillars
Encyclopedia
Neutral
Free content
Respect and
Civility
No firm rules
Credit: Pillars of Creation, NASA
14. Wikimedia Commons
Public domain, freely licensed provided
by users and used in other Wikimedia
projects (ex. Wikipedia articles).
Global repository : All images, sound
and video files are available in the
user’s language.
Wikipedia Loves Monuments : Events
aimed at making more freely licensed
photos available.
Great way to contribute if you prefer
media to writing!
15. Wikisource
“Library of free text”
Contains novels, documents, and other public
domain or license-free materials
>250K texts as of Nov 2011
Credit: Wikisource
16. Additional Wiki Sites
Wikidata
Data in structure
form, not articles.
Secondary database so
users can access
information in any
language.
Useful for
economics, social
statistics, etc.
Launched 2012 by
Wikimedia Deutschland
Wikibooks
Open content to be used
by anyone, edited by
anyone.
Textbooks + two sub-
projects: Wikijunior and
Cookbooks
Sort by
subject, completion
status or reading level.
18. Getting Started
Make an account, poke around. Edit
something! (Fixing other people’s
mistakes feels good.)
Engage in discussion with other users
Wikimedia’s role in free information
Policy changes and influence in online
market of information
Check out WikimediaDC.org!
Includes D.C., Virginia, Maryland, West
Virginia, and Delaware
Attend editing parties, tours of local
museums, or participate in Wiki Loves
Monuments/Libraries events.
19. Other Ways to Contribute
Transcribing
Scanning and
uploading documents
Editing and formatting
Adding Content
Creating articles
Expanding article stubs
Digitizing physical
materialsCredit: Flickr user PugnoM
20. Other Ways to Contribute
Editing
Removing
spelling/grammatical
errors
Adding/reviewing
citations
Removing
inconsistencies, etc.
Virtual Reference
Like a library
reference desk
Covers a variety of
subjects
Gain new skills!
21. Wiki Loves Libraries
• 2011 – present
• Wiki edit-a-thons hosted in
libraries
• Encourages collaboration
between libraries, Wikipedia
community, and general public
• Promotes open access
• Other activities – meetups,
workshops
• http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Loves_Libraries
Credit: Wikicommons
22. Wrapping Up
Wikimedia is a
growing, dynamic
organization
Wikipedia quality
depends on YOU!
Librarians CAN get
involved
Credit: Wikicommons
23. QUESTIONS?
Monique K. Clark, MLS Samara E. Carter
Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus
mkclark@nvcc.edu secarter@nvcc.edu
Twitter: mkclarkinva Twitter: maraisarchiving
Notes de l'éditeur
Press F5 or enter presentation mode to view the poll
In an emergency during your presentation, if the poll isn't showing, navigate to this link in your web browser:
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Press F5 or enter presentation mode to view the poll
In an emergency during your presentation, if the poll isn't showing, navigate to this link in your web browser:
http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/pgeoTpcvOSUinrsIf you like, you can use this slide as a template for your own voting slides. You might use a slide like this if you feel your audience would benefit from the picture showing a text message on a phone.
Wikipedia and libraries share a lot of similarities. Like libraries, Wikipedia strives to connect people to information in an efficient and effective manner. Wikipedia focuses on providing information that is free, open-licensed, and in the public domain. On the other hand, libraries provide access to both public-domain materials as well as copyrighted and licensed materials. As we all know, both organizations face challenges by trying to make these materials accessible to the public.BudgetStaff/volunteer levelsAccessing materials Making the materials availableDefending their mission
Wikimedia share much in common with libraries in terms of their values. Both hold ideals such as freedom of access, diversity, and the wider community of users and supporters in high regard. Wikimedia’s sites and communities strive to reflect these values.
Wikimania is one reflection of Wikimedia’s commitment to openness,diversity, and community. Wikimania is a yearly international gathering of Wikimedia users, editors, and other volunteers who come together to discuss topics such as current and future Wiki projects, technology, cultural impact, and so forth. Each year, Wikimania is set in a different city on a different continent; in 2012, it was held at Georgetown University.
Mention library instruction
Wikipedia reached 4 million articles at Wikimania 2012.
Again, the mission statement is (realized) in the five pillars upon which Wikipedia is based. Again, incorporating ideas of freedom, community, accessibility, and even adaptability. Wikipedia has to be able to adapt, not only in terms of content (with new information being added every minute), but in its relationship with users, its means of content delivery, and an ever-changing society as a whole. Provide brief explanation of pillars
Wikipedia can be incorporated into the learning environment in many ways and the foundation has a “campus ambassador” program that exists to help teachers utilize Wikipedia and other Wiki tools effectively. For example, some classrooms use Wikipedia as a tool to better understand how research happens. They may work to expand a Wikipedia article stub or add additional information and sources to articles that lack these details. The references listed after the main article often be to find other sources of information about a topic. At Wikimania, we learned how one classroom translated Wikipedia from their native language into English and vice-versa. Oftentimes, articles written in different languages may contain information that’s not present in the English Wikipedia, and there are many foreign language wikis which don’t have as many entries or as much information as the English Wikipedia. Wikipedia is also useful as a tool to develop and strengthen writing. For example, Wikipedia articles have to meet a certain standard of writing and information must be correctly cited. For students learning how to write research papers, this is especially important since it reinforces ideas that they learn in the classroom, such as using credible and properly-sourced information, the fine points of academic writing, and so forth.
Again, Wikisource can be a valuable tool for students or the general public to gain easy access to books and other public-domain or freely-licensed documents. Wikisource is accessible on a variety of platforms and contains a lot of materials that students can use as reference materials for an assignment or even use as a digital copy of a classic text that they need for class. In many cases, the materials found on Wikisource would be difficult to access or unavailable if not for the volunteers who transcribe the texts.
Texts, especially for projects such as Wikisource, often need to be transcribed so that they’re in a readable format (human or machines). Volunteers can help with this by scanning documents, and following Wikisource’s editorial rules. Volunteers can also add photos to various Wikimedia pages, such as Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia itself. This provides a visual element to the page (and also help add more materials to the public domain).
Wikipedia offers other ways that you can contribute to their efforts without scanning a book or writing an entire Wikipedia. Oftentimes, Wikipedia articles need a bit of editorial cleaning. Under the “Community Portal” there’s a page which lists articles that need to be improved in some way. They have lists of projects that need extra volunteer help or need some editorial attention. You’ve probably come across Wikipedia entries that need additional sources or need to be retooled altogether. Even if you don’t have an eye for editing, you ARE a librarian, and librarians are some of the best people to go to for help. Wikipedia has a virtual reference desk where site users can go to ask questions on a variety of topics. Librarians can help manage the desk and respond to reference questions at any time. If there are any folks here still in library school, the Wikipedia reference desk would be a unique way to get some reference experience.
