The Wikipedia Library/1Lib1Ref/Case Studies

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Using #1Lib1Ref as a Capacity Building Exercise for Librarians: A Case of Wikimedia Côte d’Ivoire

When Wikimedia Côte d’Ivoire joined the #1Lib1Ref campaign in 2017, it engaged only 7 librarians. The following year, 50 were involved, leading to several potential partnerships. Introducing #1Lib1ref as a capacity building program was one of the key tactics used to promote participation.

How it worked

In Côte d’Ivoire, we identified that librarians will readily participate in an event if it focused on building their capacities. Therefore the campaign was framed as a key opportunity to sharpen the digital literacy skills, obtain new collaborative skills, learn how to use sources that their libraries possess for a wider audience, etc.
Attendees who successfully added at least one reference were given a certificate.

Why it worked

Through prior discussions, Wikimedia Côte d’Ivoire learned that librarians in Côte d’Ivoire have a keen interest in trainings and other learning activities that may help them develop their capacity. We, therefore, used that to draw them in.
Providing certificates to participants provided proof that they attended our event and acquired these new sets of skills.
Referral from colleagues or other librarians was key in their network, so we capitalised on this in the first year to introduce just a few and after a year about 50 showed up.

Lesson(s) Learned

Librarians are the best referral system for Wikipedia as they directly impact their colleagues, students and other faculties around them. A delicate approach that intentionally introduces an opportunity to create value will increase positivity for Wikipedia in academia.

Using Other Open Source Citation Storage Tools: A Case of York University

#1lib1ref campaigns have taken place at York University over the past two years. In the first year, most of the librarians and archivists who were gathered to participate had not edited Wikipedia before. While everyone enjoyed learning about Wikipedia, it was quite challenging and frustrating to use the Citation Hunt tool because articles were found at random, and it was frequently challenging for participants to determine what citation was needed and where to locate it when the article lay outside the participant’s field of knowledge. For example, a humanities librarian trying to add a citation to an article on a chemical compound ran into difficulties determining the best potential sources. The only solution was to skip articles until one that matched the knowledge and interest of the participant was found. However, given the time constraint for editing, there could have been a more effective use of the time in generating more contributions on Wikipedia. In the following year, a different approach was adopted to manage the addition of citations to Wikipedia. This strategy had the added benefit of meeting other needs within the library.

How it worked

The new approach was to focus on the Indigenous faculty and alumni of York University. Faculty members were informed of the strategy and given the opportunity to respond. A few weeks before the scheduled event the organizers compiled a list of existing biographical articles relating to the focus area on Wikipedia and created the list on the Outreach Dashboard. Participants were invited to register ahead of time and were also walked through the process of obtaining usernames where necessary.
In order to make the work much easier for participants, the organizers systematically searched for publications that referenced the subjects of their event and added them to Zotero (an open source citation management and storage platform). Using Zotero for #1lib1ref was inspired by a tweet from Mita Williams, @copystar, during the 2017 campaign. One of the unexpected benefits of this approach was the realization that, the library lacked a few of the faculty publications. We were also able to gain a better understanding of publication areas for Indigenous faculty members.
At the event a presentation was given about how to edit Wikipedia, some of the rules and editing culture, information about the #1lib1ref campaign, and the technique of using Zotero in conjunction with Wikipedia. There is detailed information on the process here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources_with_Zotero. Since Zotero is one of the library’s recommended citation tools, most of the participants had previous experience with it. During the editing session, participants could work from the provided list of articles and citations to add more sources to the articles on Wikipedia.

Why it worked

Organising content prior to the event increased convenience and decreased frustration for both participants and organizers.
Choosing a tool that was widely used in the librarian world created familiarity and ease to navigate their way around editing as well as learning more about Wikipedia.
Goals for the campaign were met as there was ample time devoted to real edits.
This approach created ease and convenience for librarians which sparked other discussions around visibility and representation of Indigenous researchers on the internet and how adding citations on Wikipedia and Wikidata can play a key role in bridging the content gap.
More time meant trying other things such as adding references to Wikidata as an additional layer of citing information.

Lesson(s) Learned

The model for approaching the event was more effective than in the first year as a lot more was accomplished. Ease creates affinity and an appetite for continuity for newly trained librarians. This new approach did not only help to strengthen information on Wikipedia but also made a real difference in the visibility of individuals related to York University and a greater feeling of impact and purpose.

Prioritizing Libraries Over Librarians: A Case of Kakatiya University and Annamayya Library, Guntur

During the May 2018 campaign, two #1Lib1Ref sessions were held in two different settings in India. The first session focused on training librarians at the Kakatiya University whereas the second was a training session organized for volunteers in a library. A case by case analysis of both experiences follows.

How it worked

Kakatiya University

To ensure that an appreciable number of librarians attended the event, the event organizers secured a collaboration with the library science department of the university. This strategic partnership resulted in 15 librarians participating in the #1lib1ref training. This mode of collaboration was also essential for ensuring media coverage since universities have the luxury to procure the services of media personnel with ease. The participants were trained on how to add citations and the essence of the campaign: improving reliability by adding missing citations.

Annamayya Library, Guntur

Though there was one college librarian at this session, the participants were mostly students and a few faculty members. We employed two facilitators for the event and because it was an informal setting, things kicked off really fast with less formalities and procedures. Participants were divided into two groups and each facilitator was assigned to a group. The training mode was initially based on the Citation Hunt tool, but the inability of the tool to quickly find topics of interest to participants forced us to resort to finding topics that we were sure had resources or sources in the library we were using. We leveraged the sources in the library which was very useful and much more practical.

Why it worked

Kakatiya University

Securing a collaboration with the university department allowed us to meet our target audience.
The approach helped secure the presence of the media for coverage of the campaign.
The collaboration also afforded us the opportunity to meet our required number of participants.
The event showcased how librarians can play a critical role in improving the world's largest encyclopedia which was amusing to some of the participants.

Annamayya Library, Guntur

The ambiance of the library boosted the spirit and ease to add references.
Resources were readily available to be used directly in the editing workshop.
Participants were highly motivated so much was achieved and there was a better retention rate.
Less bureaucracy and formalities since there was no official collaboration or partnership with the institution.
Time was efficiently used unlike in the first session where a lot of time was spent on introductions, felicitations and concluding speeches.

Lesson(s) Learned

Kakatiya University

Having a partnership is somewhat useful but has its own limitations. Participants felt they were obliged to attend since it was requested by their department or were only there because a certificate was going to be awarded which could be later used in an employee appraisal. However, the reactions of the librarians confirmed how crucial it was for campaigns targeted at librarians to be presented as a capacity building or career surging opportunity.

Annamayya Library, Guntur

Everybody, once motivated, can participate in a #1lib1ref event. The audience of the campaign should be broadened to include volunteers and all interested. Libraries are a good place to organise 1lib1ref events especially when you plan the content of the event and you are sure the library has the resources to help in citing statements in the selected topics or articles.

Make a decision on the relational impact you wish to derive from your #1lib1ref event. If your focus is on media traction and awareness to librarians then maybe a formal partnership with an educational institution or library will be essential, otherwise, with the right audience, a library is good enough to achieve results on improved citations on Wikipedia.

Read more about the events on the event page.