Yes, unfortunately the way we often promote 1Lib1Ref can leave that impression (it’s cleaning-up after some lazy Wikipedians!). There are a number of ways to deal with this. Firstly explain away “1 Ref”, just say that it’s asking librarians to take a first step, and obviously we hope they will do more than 1. Tell them it can 1Lib10Ref if they prefer. Second, the topic doesn’t have to be random. If the library has a particular topic area of interest (probably something they actively collect and are proud of), talk to them about adding citations in articles relating to that topic area. Now your librarians are exploiting their special collection material and their special expertise in that collections. Such citations (particularly if they refer to online accessible content on their website or at least a catalogue entry) will drive interest in the library (and its website). Librarians like that because it provides a way by which they can promote their special collection (without crossing the COI boundary – remember [[WP:CURATOR]] says it is not COI for a GLAM to do edits that relate to the content of the GLAM’s collections). The way to work with a special topic is to **not** use Citation Hunt but rather use the tool Petscan to find the articles in their topic of interest that need citations https://petscan.wmflabs.org/ with which you can construct a list of articles within a specific category tree in Wikipedia (which relates to one of library’s area of interest) which are intersected with the tracking category “All articles with unsourced statements” (which means the article has a citation-needed template in it). Note, that the documentation for most of those “quality” tags usually mentions a tracking category (so you can look for other quality issues if you want) So if your library’s special interests is Egypt, then here’s an example of a search for citations needed in Egypt articles https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?language=en&project=wikipedia&depth=3&… = That query (with depth 3) produced 845 articles. But if you want more, try depth 4 (1465 results), then 5 (2186 results), etc (the greater the depth, the slower the execution, but you probably have more than enough with 845 possible articles! I print these Petscan lists out, and progressively cut them up into some single article strips (for the total beginner) and into some larger multiple-article strips (for the not-beginner), put them in a “lucky dip” box and let people draw out one or a group at random. Or let them choose from a single big list (but get them to mark off the one they are doing so people aren’t duplicating their effort or creating edit conflicts). Whether or not they succeed in finding a citation, throw away that topic after their attempt. Don’t let them spend too long on any one topic (there’s plenty more articles if one proves difficult). It’s quite OK to focus on the easy wins as it is a more positive experience for them and all citations added benefit Wikipedia. (Aside, if your expert librarians can’t find a citation in their area of special interest, it may be a hint to you that maybe it’s time to remove that content from Wikipedia as perhaps no citation does exist). If adding citations doesn’t appeal, then try away the whole citation-needed idea and pursue a “let’s expand articles about your topics of interests” or “let’s add photos from your collection” Call it 1Lib1Expand or1Lib1Photo if you like. Explain that the campaign is just to provide a focus for librarians to engage with Wikipedia. However they want to engage is just fine. It’s all improving Wikipedia. Here’s an idea that might appeal to other libraries: At State Library of Queensland last year, we had a sub-goal for 1Lib1Ref. We said to ourselves that public libraries are important civic amenities (and what librarian doesn’t believe that!) and that every public library in Queensland therefore should be mentioned in the Wikipedia article for that town/suburb/district. So we used http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/visit-us/find-a-public-library/browse-library-bra… as our lucky dip list and the pages linked from it and also this master spreadsheet of other info about all public libraries as our sources http://www.plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/388497/SLQ_… to add a few snippets about each public library (cited to the sources above). We added the address of the library and who operates it and the year it opened and anything special about that library that was worthy of mention (e.g. special collections). So just a sentence or two with citations. Thanks to 1Lib1Ref, we now have every Qld public library (and its mobile libraries stop-off points) mentioned in the relevant Wikipedia article. (The only catch is that it turned out that there were places with public libraries but without Wikipedia articles – those were handed to me, and I created a basic place article, and the library was thrown back in the lucky dip jar when I had made the article.) Now the librarians involved (about 40 of them who did about 25 edits each on average) really engaged well with this; libraries are meaningful to them and so they saw value in doing the task. When we finished doing public libraries, we started working on lists of Qld schools (education matters to librarians too). I note that we do 1Lib1Ref in “editathon” sessions and the librarians enjoy the social aspect of that (although people are free to do it at their desks if they prefer and many leave the editathon session with some extra lucky dip topics saying they will do them at their desk or at home that night). OK, this is not “traditional” 1Lib1Ref but let’s call it 1Lib1Lib or 1Lib1School J So don’t see the format proposed for 1Lib1Ref as a straightjacket. It’s just one way to engage librarians and Citation Hunt does provide a set of tasks for the individual librarian who might be interested but who isn’t in an outreach relationship. But if another way works better for the librarian in an outreach situation (and particularly so if you are working with a library rather than an individual librarian), then just do it that other way. It’s the engagement that matters, not the format. No matter what they do, they acquire some Wikipedia skills, which they might continue to use on their own or be willing to use in another partnership or campaign. It’s a first-step campaign. Once they have taken it, you need to work out what step 2, 3, and 4 is for them. Kerry *“I would like*, if I may, to *take you* on a *strange journey” – Rocky Horror Picture Show* *From:* Libraries [mailto:libraries-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] *On Behalf Of *Paulo Santos Perneta *Sent:* Monday, 17 September 2018 10:54 PM *To:* libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org *Subject:* Re: [libraries] Meeting Librarians Soon. Help! Last #1lib1ref was not successful here: The librarians we've contacted were not interested in fixing references for random articles, and they had difficulties on understanding why they should get through all the trouble of learning to edit Wikipedia just to fulfill the objective of 1 ref per librarian. Probably in the next edition we'll be reformulating the contest locally to make it more attractive to them. Paulo Jean-Philippe Béland &lt;jpbeland(a)wikimedia.ca&gt; escreveu no dia segunda, 17/09/2018 à(s) 13:39: Hello Reem, I'm not a librarian, but what worked well with librarians here in Quebec, Canada was the #1lib1ref campaign. We organized a little friendly competition between different university and institutional libraries and it was very successful in my opinion. We also invited students in relevant university courses to participate and taught them how to add references to Wikipedia. From what I have been told, since last year, the International Federation of Library Association (IFLA) is actively supporting the cooperation between libraries and WMF projects, especially through #1lib1ref. I'm sure there are people more qualified than me on this mailing list to explain to you what is #1lib1ref, but you can find information about it on Meta-Wiki: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library/1Lib1Ref. <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library/1Lib1Ref> Thank you and good luck with your meeting! Jean-Philippe Béland Wikimédia Canada On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 7:23 AM Reem Al-Kashif &lt;reemalkashif(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: Hello, Hope this finds you well. I didn't plan on meeting librarians at a university here in Cairo, Egypt, but they expressed interest in Wikipedia, so we are meeting :). The problem is, I really don't know what activities to offer them. I have zero experience in Wiki+libraries collaborations. It would be more than great if anybody could help me out. What I need is: 1. Understanding the nature of librarians work (I know it is a big topic, but some general remarks would do). 2. Having examples of activities they can be part of to contribute to Wiki (be it Wikipedia or Wikimedia). 3. Understanding how rewarding those activities are (so that I explain to them) 4. Having examples of similar activities, if any, around the world. Bonus point 5. Having a clear plan of action to give them (i.e. what do we do after the meeting and so on) Thank you so so much in advance for helping me navigate this uncharted territory. Best, Reem -- *Kind regards,Reem Al-Kashif* _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries

Hi All, Just a change of subject for this email thread. Next month, my colleague and I will be introducing Wikipedia to a group of librarians and wanted to include a slide on conflict of interest and librarians. Is there a policy or best practice set of guidelines that we can reference and share? Please let me know, Thank you, Rajene On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 05:30 Kerry Raymond &lt;kerry.raymond(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: > Yes, unfortunately the way we often promote 1Lib1Ref can leave that > impression (it’s cleaning-up after some lazy Wikipedians!). There are > a number of ways to deal with this. > > > > Firstly explain away “1 Ref”, just say that it’s asking librarians to > take a first step, and obviously we hope they will do more than 1. > Tell them it can 1Lib10Ref if they prefer. > > > > Second, the topic doesn’t have to be random. If the library has a > particular topic area of interest (probably something they actively > collect and are proud of), talk to them about adding citations in > articles relating to that topic area. Now your librarians are > exploiting their special collection material and their special > expertise in that collections. Such citations (particularly if they > refer to online accessible content on their website or at least a > catalogue entry) will drive interest in the library (and its > website). Librarians like that because it provides a way by which > they can promote their special collection (without crossing the COI > boundary – remember [[WP:CURATOR]] says it is not COI for a GLAM to do edits that relate to the content of the GLAM’s collections). > > > > The way to work with a special topic is to **not** use Citation Hunt > but rather use the tool Petscan to find the articles in their topic > of interest that need citations > > > > https://petscan.wmflabs.org/ > > > > with which you can construct a list of articles within a specific > category tree in Wikipedia (which relates to one of library’s area of > interest) which are intersected with the tracking category “All > articles with unsourced statements” (which means the article has a > citation-needed template in it). Note, that the documentation for most of those “quality” > tags usually mentions a tracking category (so you can look for other > quality issues if you want) > > > > So if your library’s special interests is Egypt, then here’s an > example of a search for citations needed in Egypt articles > > > > > https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?language=en&project=wikipedia&depth=3&… > tegories=Egypt%0D%0AAll%20articles%20with%20unsourced%20statements&ns > %5B0%5D=1&search_max_results=500&interface_language=en&active_tab=&do > it > = > > > > That query (with depth 3) produced 845 articles. But if you want > more, try depth 4 (1465 results), then 5 (2186 results), etc (the > greater the depth, the slower the execution, but you probably have > more than enough with 845 possible articles! > > > > I print these Petscan lists out, and progressively cut them up into > some single article strips (for the total beginner) and into some > larger multiple-article strips (for the not-beginner), put them in a “lucky dip” > box and let people draw out one or a group at random. Or let them > choose from a single big list (but get them to mark off the one they > are doing so people aren’t duplicating their effort or creating edit > conflicts). Whether or not they succeed in finding a citation, throw > away that topic after their attempt. Don’t let them spend too long on > any one topic (there’s plenty more articles if one proves difficult). > It’s quite OK to focus on the easy wins as it is a more positive > experience for them and all citations added benefit Wikipedia. > (Aside, if your expert librarians can’t find a citation in their area > of special interest, it may be a hint to you that maybe it’s time to > remove that content from Wikipedia as perhaps no citation does exist). > > > > If adding citations doesn’t appeal, then try away the whole > citation-needed idea and pursue a “let’s expand articles about your > topics of interests” or “let’s add photos from your collection” Call > it 1Lib1Expand or1Lib1Photo if you like. Explain that the campaign is > just to provide a focus for librarians to engage with Wikipedia. > However they want to engage is just fine. It’s all improving > Wikipedia. Here’s an idea that might appeal to other libraries: > > > > At State Library of Queensland last year, we had a sub-goal for 1Lib1Ref. > We said to ourselves that public libraries are important civic amenities > (and what librarian doesn’t believe that!) and that every public > library in Queensland therefore should be mentioned in the Wikipedia > article for that town/suburb/district. So we used > > > > > http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/visit-us/find-a-public-library/browse-libra > ry-branches > > > > as our lucky dip list and the pages linked from it and also this > master spreadsheet of other info about all public libraries as our > sources > > > > > http://www.plconnect.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/38849 > 7/SLQ_StatsBulletin1617_20171109.pdf > > > > to add a few snippets about each public library (cited to the sources > above). We added the address of the library and who operates it and > the year it opened and anything special about that library that was > worthy of mention (e.g. special collections). So just a sentence or > two with citations. Thanks to 1Lib1Ref, we now have every Qld public > library (and its mobile libraries stop-off points) mentioned in the > relevant Wikipedia article. (The only catch is that it turned out > that there were places with public libraries but without Wikipedia > articles – those were handed to me, and I created a basic place > article, and the library was thrown back in the lucky dip jar when I > had made the article.) Now the librarians involved (about 40 of them > who did about 25 edits each on average) really engaged well with > this; libraries are meaningful to them and so they saw value in doing > the task. When we finished doing public libraries, we started working > on lists of Qld schools (education matters to librarians too). I note > that we do 1Lib1Ref in “editathon” sessions and the librarians enjoy > the social aspect of that (although people are free to do it at their > desks if they prefer and many leave the editathon session with some > extra lucky dip topics saying they will do them at their desk or at > home that night). OK, this is not “traditional” 1Lib1Ref but let’s > call it 1Lib1Lib or 1Lib1School J > > > > So don’t see the format proposed for 1Lib1Ref as a straightjacket. > It’s just one way to engage librarians and Citation Hunt does provide > a set of tasks for the individual librarian who might be interested > but who isn’t in an outreach relationship. But if another way works > better for the librarian in an outreach situation (and particularly > so if you are working with a library rather than an individual > librarian), then just do it that other way. It’s the engagement that > matters, not the format. No matter what they do, they acquire some > Wikipedia skills, which they might continue to use on their own or be > willing to use in another partnership or campaign. It’s a first-step > campaign. Once they have taken it, you need to work out what step 2, 3, and 4 is for them. > > > > Kerry > > > > *“I would like*, if I may, to *take you* on a *strange journey” – > Rocky Horror Picture Show* > > > > *From:* Libraries [mailto:libraries-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] *On > Behalf Of *Paulo Santos Perneta > *Sent:* Monday, 17 September 2018 10:54 PM > *To:* libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org > *Subject:* Re: [libraries] Meeting Librarians Soon. Help! > > > > Last #1lib1ref was not successful here: The librarians we've > contacted were not interested in fixing references for random > articles, and they had difficulties on understanding why they should > get through all the trouble of learning to edit Wikipedia just to > fulfill the objective of 1 ref per librarian. > > > > Probably in the next edition we'll be reformulating the contest > locally to make it more attractive to them. > > > > Paulo > > > > Jean-Philippe Béland &lt;jpbeland(a)wikimedia.ca&gt; escreveu no dia segunda, > 17/09/2018 à(s) 13:39: > > Hello Reem, > > > > I'm not a librarian, but what worked well with librarians here in > Quebec, Canada was the #1lib1ref campaign. We organized a little > friendly competition between different university and institutional > libraries and it was very successful in my opinion. We also invited > students in relevant university courses to participate and taught > them how to add references to Wikipedia. From what I have been told, > since last year, the International Federation of Library Association > (IFLA) is actively supporting the cooperation between libraries and > WMF projects, especially through #1lib1ref. I'm sure there are people > more qualified than me on this mailing list to explain to you what is > #1lib1ref, but you can find information about it on Meta-Wiki: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library/1Lib1Ref. > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library/1Lib1Ref> > > > > Thank you and good luck with your meeting! > > > > Jean-Philippe Béland > > Wikimédia Canada > > > > > > On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 7:23 AM Reem Al-Kashif > &lt;reemalkashif(a)gmail.com&gt; > wrote: > > > Hello, > > Hope this finds you well. I didn't plan on meeting librarians at a > university here in Cairo, Egypt, but they expressed interest in > Wikipedia, so we are meeting :). The problem is, I really don't know > what activities to offer them. I have zero experience in > Wiki+libraries collaborations. It would be more than great if anybody could help me out. What I need is: > 1. Understanding the nature of librarians work (I know it is a big > topic, but some general remarks would do). > 2. Having examples of activities they can be part of to contribute to > Wiki (be it Wikipedia or Wikimedia). > > 3. Understanding how rewarding those activities are (so that I > explain to > them) > 4. Having examples of similar activities, if any, around the world. > Bonus point 5. Having a clear plan of action to give them (i.e. what > do we do after the meeting and so on) > > Thank you so so much in advance for helping me navigate this > uncharted territory. > > Best, > Reem > > > > -- > > > *Kind regards,Reem Al-Kashif* > > _______________________________________________ > Libraries mailing list > Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries > > _______________________________________________ > Libraries mailing list > Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries > > _______________________________________________ > Libraries mailing list > Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries > > > > _______________________________________________ > Libraries mailing list > Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries

On Sep 20, 2018, at 6:48 PM, Bob Kosovsky &lt;bobkosovsky(a)nypl.org&gt; wrote: the

On Oct 5, 2018, at 10:03 AM, Bob Kosovsky &lt;bobkosovsky(a)nypl.org&gt; wrote: Hi Rajene, It's not a black-and-white distinction but one of degrees. If I am in one of the best positions to describe a topic, why shouldn't I add such information to Wikipedia? One thing I ask myself: If someone not in my position added this information would it be accepted? If the answer is yes, then I have no qualms about adding such information. Is it promotion? To an extent it is, but it's information that others may have a difficult time acquiring. You mention an "exhibit" but I feel that many library exhibits do not achieve notability by themselves (unless an accompanying book is published along with substantial reviews of the exhibit). If there's a lasting website exhibit, then I might add it as a link. I know others have had difficulty adding links to archival resources, a problem which I've rarely had. I think the difference might be one of reputation. I'm active in several WikiProjects and have created/editing lots of articles, not all necessarily in my professed field (I'm a music librarian, yet I created article on what was the longest river in Manhattan - the article was assessed as a GA). In other words, my track record proves to the community that I'm not on Wikipedia for promotion, but I'm there to add to the encyclopedia. Bob Kosovsky, Ph.D. -- Curator, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts blog: http://www.nypl.org/blog/author/44 Twitter: @kos2 Listowner: OPERA-L ; EXLIBRIS-L ; SMT-ANNOUNCE ; SoundForge-users - My opinions do not necessarily represent those of my institutions - Inspiring Lifelong Learning | Advancing Knowledge | Strengthening Our Communities _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries

On Sep 20, 2018, at 6:48 PM, Bob Kosovsky &lt;bobkosovsky(a)nypl.org&gt; wrote: the

Hi Reem, I’m happy to help you as much as possible. At my institution, we are exploring how Wikipedia can work on different levels such as: 1. Reading Wikipedia pages critically. 1. Read the History of a page 2. Turn on the Assessment options, so you can see the color and quality of a page 3. Read the Talk page 4. Explore references. 2. Make simple citation edits using the Citation Hunt Tool. 3. Look at Dashboards and courses for examples. 4. Look at these assignments from Butler University librarians. Go to http://libguides.butler.edu/facultystaff/wikipedia and click Assignments. These projects all support the information literacy goals in the ACRL framework. Are the librarians English speakers or Arabic speakers or both? I can send you some attachments from the Wikipedia + Libraries <https://www.webjunction.org/explore-topics/wikipedia-libraries.html> project that you might find helpful. I can also collaborate on assignments with you. You can start very simple and slow and users will still learn a lot! Please be in touch! Best wishes, Laura -- Laura Jenemann Communication, Media, & Film Librarian Boston University 617-353-9240 ljeneman(a)bu.edu *From: *Libraries &lt;libraries-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt; on behalf of Andromeda Yelton &lt;andromeda.yelton(a)gmail.com&gt; *Reply-To: *Wikimedia & Libraries &lt;libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt; *Date: *Monday, September 17, 2018 at 9:28 AM *To: *Wikimedia & Libraries &lt;libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org&gt; *Subject: *Re: [libraries] Meeting Librarians Soon. Help! I am a librarian! I think the key thing is finding ways that *Wikipedia* can advance the *librarians'* goals. I think when these initiatives fail it's often because they're framed in terms of how librarians can advance Wikipedia's goals. (And asking people who are overworked and underpaid to contribute free labor to a project they're not already invested in is...not an obvious value proposition.) Now I have no idea what the going concerns are for Egyptian librarians, so I can't advise you on specifics. But here are some things librarians are often interested in that can be approached via Wikipedia: * research and information literacy skills: finding and evaluating sources * digital literacy and computer usage skills * propaganda, misinformation, fake news (though I expect this plays very differently in Egypt than where I am in the US) * supporting the learning that is going on in professors' classrooms * open access They're often interested in digital preservation and research data management too, but their approaches are SO different that Wikipedia is probably less useful here. What kind of interest are your librarians expressing? Why do THEY want to learn more? On Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 7:22 AM Reem Al-Kashif &lt;reemalkashif(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: Hello, Hope this finds you well. I didn't plan on meeting librarians at a university here in Cairo, Egypt, but they expressed interest in Wikipedia, so we are meeting :). The problem is, I really don't know what activities to offer them. I have zero experience in Wiki+libraries collaborations. It would be more than great if anybody could help me out. What I need is: 1. Understanding the nature of librarians work (I know it is a big topic, but some general remarks would do). 2. Having examples of activities they can be part of to contribute to Wiki (be it Wikipedia or Wikimedia). 3. Understanding how rewarding those activities are (so that I explain to them) 4. Having examples of similar activities, if any, around the world. Bonus point 5. Having a clear plan of action to give them (i.e. what do we do after the meeting and so on) Thank you so so much in advance for helping me navigate this uncharted territory. Best, Reem -- *Kind regards, Reem Al-Kashif* _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries

I am a librarian! I think the key thing is finding ways that *Wikipedia* can advance the *librarians'* goals. I think when these initiatives fail it's often because they're framed in terms of how librarians can advance Wikipedia's goals. (And asking people who are overworked and underpaid to contribute free labor to a project they're not already invested in is...not an obvious value proposition.) Now I have no idea what the going concerns are for Egyptian librarians, so I can't advise you on specifics. But here are some things librarians are often interested in that can be approached via Wikipedia: * research and information literacy skills: finding and evaluating sources * digital literacy and computer usage skills * propaganda, misinformation, fake news (though I expect this plays very differently in Egypt than where I am in the US) * supporting the learning that is going on in professors' classrooms * open access They're often interested in digital preservation and research data management too, but their approaches are SO different that Wikipedia is probably less useful here. What kind of interest are your librarians expressing? Why do THEY want to learn more? On Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 7:22 AM Reem Al-Kashif &lt;reemalkashif(a)gmail.com <mailto:reemalkashif@gmail.com>> wrote: Hello, Hope this finds you well. I didn't plan on meeting librarians at a university here in Cairo, Egypt, but they expressed interest in Wikipedia, so we are meeting :). The problem is, I really don't know what activities to offer them. I have zero experience in Wiki+libraries collaborations. It would be more than great if anybody could help me out. What I need is: 1. Understanding the nature of librarians work (I know it is a big topic, but some general remarks would do). 2. Having examples of activities they can be part of to contribute to Wiki (be it Wikipedia or Wikimedia). 3. Understanding how rewarding those activities are (so that I explain to them) 4. Having examples of similar activities, if any, around the world. Bonus  point 5. Having a clear plan of action to give them (i.e. what do we do after the meeting and so on) Thank you so so much in advance for helping me navigate this uncharted territory. Best, Reem -- *Kind regards, Reem Al-Kashif* _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:Libraries@lists.wikimedia.org> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries

Hi Reem! No one has addressed point 1 yet so: * At universities there are different kinds of jobs in the library, involving quite different work. Some librarians focus on acquiring and describing the material in the library. These people might be catalogers (if they focus on cataloging); acquisitions librarians (if they focus on buying or getting materials); or archivists (if they focus on older and rare or unique materials in archives). There are also librarians who focus on working with the students & staff of the university. They might be research librarians (there are different names for this) who specialize in doing research in one subject or many subjects. (For instance, my specialty is engineering, and my title is department liaison librarian, so I mainly work with engineering students and buy engineering materials, with a special focus on the EE & CS department). These librarians may assist with research, buy books, and teach classes as well as assisting faculty or researchers. Then there are librarians who specialize only in teaching, or only in metadata or technical work (like working on the website or database structures). My suggestion if you don't know who you are meeting is to ask them what their jobs entail and what their concerns and interests are. Some of the things that I say to librarians are: * students and researchers are using Wikipedia anyway, so it is in our best interest to learn how it works and how to use it well (eg understanding the page history, how material is added, why is ar.wikipedia so much smaller than en.wikipedia?) * if they teach students: teaching students to contribute to Wikipedia can be an excellent pedagogical exercise that can help them learn to use the library, since Wikipedia *requires* references * if they work with more advanced researchers: contributing to Wikipedia or assisting others to do so can improve information about their subject for the public, and is an excellent way to disseminate good information about the subject. It can help students and researchers who do not have the opportunity of university. * if they work with archives or old or unique materials, Wikipedia & Wikimedia commons provides a free and open way to share information about objects and collections with the entire world (add free photos, archival descriptions, etc.) * if they are more focused on the cataloging or database end, Wikidata can be very interesting since it links open data in a way that libraries have been trying to do for a long time in their catalogs. For instance, the library catalog could add identifiers from Wikidata that would connect their authority records to catalogs around the world . * if they are focused on the licensing and acquisitions end: Wikimedia is an excellent argument for supporting open access efforts, since our readers would like to access the scholarly references that are cited. * it's rather out of date but you can check here too: https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Loves_Libraries for project ideas Also I like to say that the missions of Wikimedia and libraries are aligned: we both want to make good information available to all, freely and openly. I'm not sure of the politics of Egyptian libraries, but you could mention that we had Wikimania 2008 at the Biblioteca Alexandrina, a wonderful experience for many of us, and we had great conversations with those librarians about contributing digitized and older unique materials to Wikimedia Commons. all best & good luck! Phoebe On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 7:22 AM Reem Al-Kashif &lt;reemalkashif(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: -- * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at> gmail.com * _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list Libraries(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries