The Wikipedia Library/Newsletter/May-June 2020

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The Wikipedia Library
Books & Bytes
Issue 39, May–June 2020

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In this issue we highlight exciting new developments and partnerships on the Library Card platform, and, as always, a roundup of news and community items related to libraries and digital knowledge.

Library Card Platform[edit]

The Library Card Platform facilitates free access to paywalled reliable sources to experienced Wikimedia contributors. Previously all access via The Wikipedia Library required that you apply to and be approved for individual partners. The Library Bundle changes that workflow by making a set of partners immediately available to everyone who meets the experience requirements outlined in our Terms of Use. As long as you continue to meet those requirements (which include 10 edits within the past month and not being blocked), you will have on-demand access to Bundle partners via the Library Card without needing to apply or renew.

This access is provided via EZProxy, which has also been implemented for a number of our non-Bundle partners. EZProxy is a proxy server used to authenticate users. Instead of having individual logins for each partner to which you have access, you can access all EZProxy-implemented partners simply by logging in to your Library Card account via Wikipedia.

To access Bundle and EZProxy partners, simply visit the Library Card Platform, go to the new My Library page, and click on 'Access collection' for the partner you wish to access in the Instant Access tab. Also, if you are someone who knows how to write in a language other than English, is interested in translation, and has some time to spare, please visit translatewiki.net to help translate and review the updated site.

New partnerships[edit]

The Wikipedia Library is announcing signups today for free, full-access, accounts for several exciting new partners:

  • ProQuest – includes ProQuest Central, Literature Online, the HNP Chinese Newspaper Collections, and the Historical New York Times
  • Springer Nature – access to nature.com, which comprises primarily journals in the physical and life sciences, and link.springer.com, a broad collection of multidisciplinary research
  • BioOne – scientific publisher of journals covering the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences
  • CEEOL – the Central and Eastern European Online Library is a publisher of a wide range of Humanities and Social Sciences journals and ebooks
  • IWA Publishing – publisher of books and 14 journals on the topics of water, wastewater, and related environmental fields
  • ICE Publishing – part of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Other partnerships with accounts available are listed on our partners page.

Bytes in brief[edit]

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