The Wikipedia Library/Newsletter/November-December 2021

The Wikipedia Library
Books & Bytes
Issue 48, November–December 2021

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In this issue we highlight #1lib1ref, the latest developments on the Library Card platform and, as always, a roundup of news and community items related to libraries and digital knowledge.

#1lib1ref edit

An excerpt from a post on Diff by Satdeep Gill and Felix Nartey

We are happy to announce the next iteration of the 1Lib1Ref campaign, launching on 15 January 2022.

Following the growth of misinformation, censorship, and the keen search for information on the web in the heat of the pandemic, our goal to improve the quality and authenticity of articles on Wikipedia through 1Lib1Ref has been heightened and is being made more apparent. "Verifiability" is one of the core content policies of Wikipedia and that's what the 1Lib1Ref campaign focuses on. It helps direct the world to free, yet verifiable and reliable information. This is a goal that clearly aligns with the skills and values of information professionals and the campaign allows them to share that work with billions of readers across the globe.

As much as the campaign focuses on bringing new contributors in through quick tasks, we have noticed that many information professionals are keen to do more. This year we're piloting new contribution methods, such as creating new articles and linking Wikisource books to Wikidata. Organizers are encouraged to innovate further and discover what works best for the editors that they will be engaging for the campaign.

We also have some good news for participants from the Central Eastern Europe region (CEE). Thanks to the amazing volunteer efforts of Guilherme Gonçalves (volunteer developer) and Gorana Gomirac (coordinator, 1Lib1Ref CEE), seven more languages from the region are now supported by the CitationHunt tool! These languages are Bulgarian, Belarusian, Belarusian (Taraškievica), Serbian, Slovakian, Slovenian and Turkish. Here is some documentation that can help you add your language to this tool: Citation Hunt#Adding support for a new language.

Remember to add your local events to the campaign dashboard, so we can learn and track activities happening across the world. Visit 1lib1ref.org to learn more and get involved!

Notifications launching edit

The Wikipedia Library is sending out a notification to let users know they are eligible for access. This notification was rolled out gradually over the course of January, so users with a higher edit count saw it first and those with a lower edit count may receive it later. This is a one-time notification for those who have already passed the eligibility threshold; going forward users will receive the notification as they meet the threshold. See T288070 for updates on progress.

Bytes in brief edit

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