The route to discovery for most students and researchers inevitably involves a Google search and then a click through to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is where researchers congregate on the internet to begin their search, and to reach them, open cultural data and resource curators like DPLA and its affiliates need to be involved in the process that creates and curates Wikipedia. We will highlight the growing number of projects and programs developed by the Wikipedia Library and larger Wikipedia community that make Wikipedia a complementary partner to the efforts of DPLA. These projects have developed in cooperation with university libraries, archivists, cultural institutions, and organizations like DPLA, Europeana and OCLC.
The discussion will focus on helping cultural institutions decide how to best leverage Wikipedia using tools like: direct editing of Wikipedia to highlight and expose collections with editathons and image uploads, linking to finding aids on relevant articles, hosting Wikipedians-in-Residence, and integration with tools like WikipeDPLA. We will also explore new opportunities for collaboration— such as our Wikipedia Visiting Scholars program and the Wikipedia Education program. Our desire is to bring more archivists and cultural heritage curators into our midst as subject experts, connecting the circle of research and dissemination between readers, Wikipedia, and knowledge institutions.
Notes available at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1a1MuJZfOHnY0lyrQM56f5bAbJkahsUSAJMSshytYLxQ&authuser=1
