Opportunities for public libraries and Wikipedia

Fenoll, Carme and Cummings, John and Tramullas, Jesús and Hinojo, Álex Opportunities for public libraries and Wikipedia., 2016 [Report]

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English abstract

Wikipedia is a powerful tool for public libraries,especially in parts of the world where access to other resources is cost-prohibitive: it supplements library resources with timely, useful information; acts as a tool for librarians answering reference questions; provides a pathway to primary and secondary sources and citations; helps library clients perform research; and provides a vital platform for ecording local knowledge, in local languages, not typically supported by the larger research and publishing industry. Experiments within existing communities suggest that by engaging in Wikipedia, public libraries can expose both their staff and patrons to more complex and sophisticated strategies for dealing with the changing digital landscape. Public libraries and their supporting networks would greatly benefit from a strategy for engaging with Wikipedia. Wikipedia strategies could also serve other library needs, encouraging engagement with a key 21st-century resource for education and learning, providing a model for developing and teaching complex digital literacy skills, and creating a venue for sharing local cultural heritage with a wider audience. These opportunities are even more present in the context of the developing world, where libraries have become de facto access points for digital information yet may not have capacity or resources to invest in digital tools. Equally, Wikipedia has the potential to point clients to libraries, where resources in their areas of interest can be found. Wikipedia-library engagement connects Wikipedia with the important role libraries play in bridging inequalities in access to information, while also being a source for local and regional knowledge and resource discovery.

Item type: Report
Keywords: Wikipedia; Public libraries; Bibliotecas públicas.
Subjects: B. Information use and sociology of information
C. Users, literacy and reading.
D. Libraries as physical collections. > DC. Public libraries.
H. Information sources, supports, channels.
Depositing user: Dr. Jesús Tramullas
Date deposited: 24 Apr 2020 06:09
Last modified: 24 Apr 2020 06:09
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/39905

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