Presentation by Brian Kelly, UKOLN on 25 October 2012 for an Open Access Week event at the University of Exeter

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Talk by Brian Kelly, Cetis on 30 October 2014 at the CILIPS Autumn Gathering in Edinburgh

Why and How Librarians Should Engage With Wikipedia

Event hashtag: #CILIPSAG14

Why and How Librarians Should Engage With Wikipedia

Brian KellyInnovation AdvocateCetisUniversity of BoltonBolton, UK

Contact DetailsEmail: ukwebfocus@gmail.comTwitter: @briankellyCetis Web site: http://www.cetis.ac.uk/Blog: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/

Slides and further information available athttp://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/why-and-how-librarians-should-engage-with-wikipedia/

Event hashtag: #CILIPSAG14

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About Me

Brian Kelly:• Innovation Advocate at Cetis, Bolton University

Involvement in Wikipedia and Wikimedia UK:• Created first article in 2004 and involved in training /

edit-a-thons since 2013 as an accredited Wikipedia trainer

• Recent talks on: Wikipedia, Wikimedia UK and Higher Education:

Developments in the UK, Eduwiki Serbia 2014 Editing Wikipedia: Why You Should and How You Can

Support Your Users, CILIP Wales 2014 Wikipedia Editing Workshop – In a Nutshell, LILAC 2014 Open Knowledge: Wikipedia and Beyond, Cetis 2014

• Poster display on Wikimedia & Metrics at 1:AM Alt.metrics conference

Regard Wikipedia as: • An example of an Open Educational Practice• Of particular importance to library sector

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About This Talk

AbstractIt's a popular information resource: it's one of the five most popular websites in the world, clocking over 21 billion hits every month. So why wouldn't librarians engage with Wikipedia? Don't librarians and information professionals have responsibilities to ensure that not only are they able to evaluate Wikipedia articles and advise their users but also for improving Wikipedia articles and helping their users to do this?  

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Your Approaches

Which aspect of following spectrum best summarises your library’s approaches to use of Wikipedia by your users:A. Against: Warn against itB. Neutral, but negative:

Accept it will be used, but begrudgingly

C. Neutral, but positive: Accept it will be used, and content with this approach

D. Positive & pro-active: Welcome its use and advise on its strengths and weaknesses (courses, posters, etc.)

Poster on teaching Wikipedia to school pupils at University of Birmingham

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About You

Who has:• Used Wikipedia?• Has a Wikipedia account?• Has edited Wikipedia

articles?• Has taught or advised their

users on use of WikipediaWho would:

• Like to create an account?• Create a user profile?• Perhaps even update an

article?Feel free to do this during this talk!

Is the article accurate? Can it be improved?

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Wikipedia's Purpose and Key Principles

Wikipedia's purpose is: to benefit readers by acting as an encyclopedia, a comprehensive written compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge.

As described by Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder:

Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing.

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Wikipedia's Key Principles

Wikipedia seeks to achieve its goal by its five pillars:

1. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia: Wikipedia is not, for example, a soapbox, an advertising platform, a vanity press, an indiscriminate collection of information, or a web directory.

2. Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view: Wikipedia strives for articles that document & explain the major points of view, giving due weight with respect to their prominence in an impartial tone. It avoids advocacy and we characterize information and issues rather than debate them.

3. Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute: Since all editors freely licence their work to the public, no editor owns an article and any contributions can and will be freely edited and redistributed.

4. Editors should treat each other with respect and civility: Contributors are expected to respect fellow Wikipedians, even when you disagree. Apply Wikipedia etiquette, and don't engage in personal attacks.

5. Wikipedia has no firm rules: Wikipedia has policies and guidelines, but they are not carved in stone; their content and interpretation can evolve over time. Their principles and spirit matter more than their literal wording, and sometimes improving Wikipedia requires making an exception.

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Characteristics of Librarians

According to LibraryScienceList.com key characteristics of librarians include:

• A love of knowledge and learning• A desire to work around people• Broad overall knowledge of life and the world• Strong organisational skills• Good with numbers• Friendly• Ethical• Personable• Affinity for working with large volumes of information• Computer skills

See http://librarysciencelist.com/core-competencies-of-librarianship/

In addition, IMHO, a desire to:• Share these interests &

passions with others• Enhance the information

literacy of others• Encourage others to adopt

ethical approaches in use of information

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Librarians and Wikipedia – An Ideal Match!

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Librarian Characteristics Relevance to Wikipedia

A love of knowledge and learning

Aligned with Wikipedia's goal of "a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge".

A desire to work around people

There is a strong Wikipedia community: in October 2013 there were 31,000 active editors with about half of the active editors spending at least one hour a day editing.

Broad overall knowledge of life and the world

Wikipedia provides access to broad knowledge of life and the world and the ability to share such knowledge with others.

Strong organizational skills In order to help manage the 4,616,531+ articles there will be a need to have good organisation skills.

Friendly and personable Aligned with Wikipedia principle that Editors should treat each other with respect and civility.

Ethical Ethical considerations underpin the five pillars.

Affinity for working with large amount of information

This is of direct relevance to Wikipedia.

Computer skills This is of direct relevance to Wikipedia.

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Wikipedia and Librarians – An Ideal Match!

How do Wikipedia’s five pillars relate to librarians:1. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia: Librarians are familiar with

encyclopedias, including their strengths and weaknesses.2. Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view: Librarians

will warn against personalisation features of Google, which can act as an ‘echo chamber’ and not provide neutral answers to queries.

3. Wikipedia is free content that anyone can use, edit, and distribute: Librarians have been pro-active in encouraging open access policies, to minimise costs of journal subscriptions and maximise access to research.

4. Editors should treat each other with respect and civility: Librarians will have similar rules regarding use of library space.

5. Wikipedia has no firm rules: HmmRanganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science (1931):5: The library is a growing organismThis law focused on the need for internal change than on changes in the environment itself. Ranganathan argued that library organizations must accommodate growth in staff, the physical collection and patron use. This involved allowing for growth in the physical building, reading areas, shelving, and in space for the catalog.

And growth due to technological developments!

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Creating A Wikipedia Account

Who would:• Like to create an

account?• Create a user profile?

Feel free to do this during this talk. Note:

• Creating a user account takes ~ a minute!

• Creating / updating a user profile takes ~ 1 - 5 minutes!

Click here from any Wikipedia page

If you create a Wikipedia account or create/ update a profile page, feel free to:• Send a Twitter message that you have done so.• Say how long it took

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Is Wikipedia Relevant?

Is Wikipedia:• Relevant to your engagement with

your user community?• A problem for your engagement with

your user community?

Wikipedia in the library - the elephant in the (reading) room? Nancy Graham and Andrew Gray, LILAC 2014

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Is Wikipedia Relevant?

Is Wikipedia:• Relevant to your engagement with

your user community?• A problem for your engagement

with your user community?

Wikipedia in the library - the elephant in the (reading) room? Nancy Graham and Andrew Gray, LILAC 2014

Why Wikipedia is ImportantFrom Wikimedia UK

https://wiki.wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Expert_outreach

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Top Tips

No. 1: Understand why Wikipedia is important to librarians

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Eduwiki (UK) 2013

Eduwiki 2013 conference:• Held in Cardiff on 1-2 Dec

2013• Second EduWiki UK

conferenceCovered:

• Case studies from higher education and schools

• Broader considerations

Note Eduwiki 2014 conference to be held in St Leonard's Hall, Edinburgh tomorrow (fully booked)

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Two Case Studies

Summary of two case studies presented at EduWiki 2013:

• Safe Use of Wikipedia in the Transition from School to University, Lisa Anderson and Nancy Graham, University of Birmingham (now Roehampton)

• Introducing Students to Independent Research through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages, Humphrey Southall, University of Portsmouth

Ed

uW

iki

2013

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Outreach work by University of Birmingham Library

• Demonstrate information literacy approaches to school pupils

• Students surprised that Wikipedia was shown

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Introducing Students to Independent Research through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages

This was the assignment (see “Telling the stories of rural England with Wikipedia” )

Humphrey Southall at EduWiki conference 

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Introducing Students to Independent Research through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages

Notice how Neutral Point of View principle was addressed

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Introducing Students to Independent Research through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages

Example of article chosen for updating by student

Original Wikipedia article for Sawley, North Yorkshire

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After UpdatesE

du

Wik

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Map and factual information in “infobox”

Introduction (with links to other relevant Wikipedia articles

Table of contents (auto-generated)

History

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Introducing Students to Independent Research through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages

Students learn about researching and citations

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Top Tips

No. 2: Understand how Wikipedia is being used in education

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Wikipedia Behind the Article

Who has looked at the information about a Wikipedia article (the Talk and View history pages)?

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Wikipedia Behind the Article

We can see the history of the development of an article (contributors, update dates; …)

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Top Tips

No. 3: Gain a better understanding of the Wikipedia service

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Be Willing to Update Wikipedia Articles

You:• Spot an error in a

Wikipedia article

Are there still 28 public libraries in Edinburgh?

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Be Willing to Update Wikipedia Articles

You:• Spot an error in a

Wikipedia article• Identify an area for

improvement

Do these links still work?

Are these categories comprehensive?

As an information professional wouldn’t you wish to ensure that information (text, links & metadata) is accurate and comprehensive? Especially if:

• This can be done in minutes (or seconds!)

• Page is likely to be easily found in Google

Text & images

Links

Metadata

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Top Tips

No. 4: Be willing to update Wikipedia articles

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Metadata for Wikipedia Articles

You:• Identify gaps in

Wikipedia’s coverage

Does this category cover all Libraries in Edinburgh with Wikipedia articles? Note there are 28 public libraries

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Metadata for Wikipedia Articles

You:• Identify gaps in

Wikipedia’s coverage

Does this category cover all Cities in Scotland with Libraries

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Top Tips

No. 5: Be willing to create new Wikipedia articles(but first learn editing basics by creating a Wikipedia profile)

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Why You Should Have a Wikipedia Account

Using a Wikipedia account to edit articles is recommended:

• Openness• Record of

contributionsAbility to:

• Create new articles

• Join in discussions

• Have customised preferences

• …

Creating an Account

Feel free to:• Go to a Wikipedia page

and click Create Account

• Then complete the form

A: New users

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Did you do it in less than a minute?

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Top Tips

No. 6: Create a Wikipedia account

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Create a User Profile

Nancy Graham’s user profile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Msnancygraham

User: msnancygraham

Use search box as a quick way to find user profiles

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Create a User Profile

Nancy Graham’s user profile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Msnancygraham

User: msnancygraham

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Today’s Goal : Create a User Profile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Lawsonstu

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Top Tips

No. 7: Create a Wikipedia profile

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Be Ethical!

Quality of Wikipedia articles is provided by volunteer effortPlease do not:

• Introduce errors to see how soon they are corrected

[[London]]

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Outreach work by Uni of Birmingham Library

• Demonstrate information literacy approaches to school pupils

• Surprise that Wikipedia was shown

Discussion: “Live edit a Wikipedia entry – highlight how quickly edits are corrected”But should pages be ‘vandalised’ in order to demonstrate how the community fixes such vandalism?Highlighted need to address best practices for those who teach use of Wikipedia.

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Top Tips

No. 8: Be ethical

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Content Can Change!

Changes to the Jalalpur, Bihar arty=icle

Minor edit made

Pages which can be improved are tagged (can be useful for new editors)

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Content Can Change!

Changes to the Jalalpur, Bihar arty=icle

This article was proposed for deletion by Lfstevens on 2 May 2014 with the comment:unnotable, uncited stubIt was contested by Necrothesp on 7 May 2014 with the comment:deprod; all settlements are considered to be notable; cleaned up

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Content Can Change!

Current version (15 Oct 2014)

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Top Tips

No. 9: Be prepared for your contributions to be changed (normally improved!)

The Five Pillars

Fundamental principles by which the Wikimedia community operates...Wikipedia:

1. is an encyclopedia2. is written from a neutral point of view3. is free content that anyone can

edit / use/ modify / share4. editors should respect each other5. does not have any firm rules

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Key Principles for Content (1)

No original researchAll research must come from published sources e.g.

• Peer-reviewed journals • Peer-reviewed books• University-level textbooks• Magazines, journals and books published by

respected publishing houses• Mainstream newspapers

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Key Principles for Content (2)Neutral Point of ViewContent should be provided from a neutral point of view:

• If your viewpoint is in the majority, then it should be easy to substantiate it with reference to commonly accepted reference texts;

• If your viewpoint is held by a significant minority, then it should be easy to name prominent adherents;

• If your viewpoint is held by an extremely small minority, then — whether it's true or not, whether you can prove it or not — it doesn't belong in Wikipedia, except perhaps in some ancillary article.

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Top Tips

No. 10: Understand the Wikipedia principles

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Be Bold!

The “Be bold” principle

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User Queries About CILIP

Queries which you might expect answers to be easily found:

• How many members does CILIP have?• What are the trends in membership

numbers since CILIP was founded?• (What are the reasons for trends in

membership numbers?)

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CILIP Entry (June 2014)

CILIP Entry (June 2014) - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chartered_Institute_of_Library_and_Information_Professionals&oldid=613774361

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CILIP entry, Sept 2014

CILIP entry, Sept 2014

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CILIP Entry (Soon!)

Planned update to CILIP article

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No evidence of impact of:• Change of government• Onset of austerity measures• Changes in CILIP management• Changes in CILIP governance

What Do The Numbers Tell Us?Linear trends in decline of CILIP membership numbers

ALA membership numbers

ALA membership nos. available (and easily found) since 1900

2030

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Advocacy Or Unbiased Information?

Member attrition 1st January – 28th February 2014.. Whilst there has been a slight increase in attrition rates for the same period last year, the recent figures support the trend towards an “attrition plateau”.TrendsLooking at the year on year graph of membership figure, 2014 continues to reflect positive trends compared with previous years, but this will become more realistic as the year progresses.

Taken from Financial report for the year ended December 2013 and membership report to 28 February 2014 (page 8)

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Advocacy Or Unbiased Information?“CILIP is the leading body representing the information professions. We believe in a literate, knowledgeable and connected society. We build the professionalism of our members by supporting the development of skills, knowledge and excellence. We provide unity through shared values and advocate on behalf of the information professions.”

Tension: CILIP acts as a advocacy body for a profession in which neutrality and objectivity are an important characteristic

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A Wikipedia Article for CILIPS?

Should there be a Wikipedia article for CILIPS?Issues:• Is CILIPS

noteworthy?• Sources of

information for an article.

• Having a neutral POV

• See CILI talk page

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Top Tips

No. 11: Be aware of tensions and conflicts of interest when seeking to provide factual information on Wikipedia(and use Talk page to declare possible conflicts of interest)

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Conclusions

1. Understand why Wikipedia is important to librarians2. Understand how Wikipedia is being used in

education3. Gain a better understanding of the Wikipedia service4. Be willing to update Wikipedia articles5. Be willing to create Wikipedia articles6. Create a Wikipedia account7. Create a Wikipedia profile8. Be ethical9. Be prepared for your contributions to be changed10.Understand the Wikipedia principles11.Be aware of tensions and conflicts of interest when

seeking to provide factual information on Wikipedia

ANY QUESTIONS?

Cartoon

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Questions?

Any questions, comments, …?

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This presentation, “Why and How Librarians Should Engage With Wikipedia” by Brian Kelly, Cetis is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 LicenceNote the licence covers most of the text in this presentation. Quotations may have other licence conditions. Images may have other licence conditions. Where possible links are provided to the source of images so that licence conditions can be found.

Slides and further information available athttp://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/why-and-how-librarians-should-engage-with-wikipedia/

Licence and Additional Resources