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project:
idea creator:
Ocaasi
project contact:
wikiocaasi
yahoo.com
participants:
Ocaasi
summary:
Expansion and improved management of research database donations allowing active Wikipedia editors to seamlessly utilize high quality sources for free.
engagement target:
Wikipedia
strategic priority:
Improving Quality
total amount requested:
7,500 USD
2013 round 1
The Wikipedia Library is an ongoing project designed to give active, experienced Wikipedia editors free access to the vital reliable sources that they need to do their work. The motivation for the project is simple: Wikipedia editors largely donate their time to create a resource that benefits the entire world. As such, they should not have to beg, borrow, travel, trade, steal or go to large personal expense to find reliable sources. Many reliable sources are hidden behind expensive paywalls, only accessible through select schools, universities, or employers. The Wikipedia Library would be an organized program to change that.
There are isolated precedents for this type of community–corporation relationship. Programs have already been started with Credo Reference, HighBeam, and JSTOR to give approved editors access to proprietary content. So far nearly 2000 accounts have been donated, services which if purchased individually would cost many tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. These programs are a great start, but they are handicapped by the fact that they are separate and limited. Editors have to apply and sign in to each one individually, and the account approval and management needs to be overseen for every program in a time-consuming process of organization, dissemination, and maintenance.
These programs are like having 10 different keys to 10 different buildings with 10 different property managers. The idea of The Wikipedia Library is to create a central access point, with a single gate, behind which editors would be free to roam in and out of multiple paywalled sites. Before that is achievable, this phase would focus be attracting the top research publications/databases in the world to participate. Also, a goal of this phase is to specify the technical implementation of The Wikipedia Library, to prepare for its construction in Phase 2.
For ongoing project management, please seeEN:WP:TWL.
Note, this project was proposed for a Fellowship in 2012 and received significant community support (~30 endorsements):archived here
Progress on the project will center around three key areas. One, contacting reference sites and building relationships with those providers to ask and persuade them to donate resources now, and also separately to express intent to join The Wikipedia Library in its future form. Two, improving the management of existing and future donations so that it can scale better. Three, researching the technical infrastructure of the project and relevant technologies and partners for understanding potential development.
This grant would facilitate outreach to upwards of 100 more potential library partners, expanding and streamlining outreach efforts to bring them on board as donors and TWL members-to-be.
Developing the Wikipedia Library could interface with the WMF's work updating the oAuth code infrastructure, a project which the tech department is beginning this March. However, this grant willnot be for the technical integration of TWL; rather,phase 1 of The Wikipedia Library is independently for expanding on prior work and laying the groundwork for continued expansion of the project by building relationships. Preparing for technical challenges ofphase 2 are secondary but would involve the components of actually building the SSL architecture. Moreover, this project is platform agnostic: We'll seek to move forward with the WMF or alongside them but separately; it's important that the Wikipedia Library not be dependent on a single technical resource, even the WMF.
The total amount requested is $7,500.
The target audience of The Wikipedia Library is experienced, active, established content writers and content editors. These are the longstanding members of our community whom we want to keep flush with the tools necessary to be effective contributors.
TWL targets quality and editor retention. Access to the best available academic, scholarly, and subject-resources improves not only the detail and scope of coverage in articles but also the reliability and verifiability of that content by providing proper references.
By giving active, experienced editors free and full access to these sources, we improve their efficiency and productiveness but also their satisfaction and sense of being valued and appreciated. This should help retain some of our most important and longstanding members of the community.
The impact of The Wikipedia Library initially serves only the 1000 or so editors who would have free access to the library. However, 1000 dedicated Wikipedians might make hundreds of thousands of edits. Improving articles with high quality sources is a foundational exercise and could vastly improve articles that are read by millions of people a year. There is also the opportunity to bridge a gap between Wikipedia and the for-profit research community. Simply, those organizations can be a tremendous ally in fulfilling our core mission. They are good people to know and even better people to have as friends and partners.
In Phase 0, which has already happened, the community built four partnerships with research donors. In phase 1, which this grant would scope, we would seek to triple that number and create a platform for technically integrating the donations. In phase 2, which would come after this grant, we would build the infrastructure of the online single sign-on portal. Continued community management of the library would be required, likely by semi-formally appointing community 'librarians' to oversee account sign-ups, outreach to new members, and rotation of accounts. Over time, if successful, the number of partnerships would continue to grow and the Wikipedia Library could continue to expand into more areas. It might eventually need to be spun-off as a Thematic Organization, but that is considerably down the road, more like in phase 4 or 5.
Provided the technical implementation of single sign-on is successful, The Wikipedia Library can and should grow over time. There is no limit to the number of organizations or institutions who could participate. Indeed, we might one day face the problem of how to curate the available resources so that editors can find the best resource they need out of the multitude of available sources. In other words, The Wikipedia Library may one day need an actual librarian!
Please paste a link to where the relevant communities have been notified of this proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions, here.
Do you think this project should be selected for an Individual Engagement Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on thetalk page of this proposal.