[Foundation-l] Access to academic journals (was Re: Remarks on Wikimedia's fundraiser)

[SlimVirgin]

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 06:32, Andreas Kolbe <jayen466 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Could someone from the Foundation please respond to the idea of contacting
> universities and content database providers and inviting them to support
> Wikipedia by making a certain number of log-in IDs available, with the
> benefit -- to them -- that increased citation of high-quality publications
> would potentially make these publications visible to a larger audience?
>
> Is this something the Foundation would consider pursuing?

Credo offered 100 accounts last year as a charitable donation.
Unfortunately they were given out on a first-come, first-served basis,
which meant editors who don't contribute content signed up for them,
as did those who already have access at home through their local
libraries -- though in fairness several withdrew their names once they
realized that. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:CREDO

It would be wonderful if the Foundation could seek more of the same
kind of donation, particularly from databases giving access to
academic journals (e.g. JSTOR), but being careful to make sure the
accounts went to editors who would use them the most, but who don't
currently have access. This kind of thing would really improve article
quality, and would make established editors feel their needs were
being looked after.

Sarah