Page:The Wikipedia Library-The largest encyclopedia needs a digital library and we are building it By Jake Orlowitz.pdf/15

15 free-to-read​ ​openly​ ​available​ ​excerpt​ ​of​ ​sections​ ​of​ ​Newspapers.com​ ​articles​ ​which​ ​allow​ ​readers to​ ​see​ ​the​ ​same​ ​content​ ​as​ ​the​ ​editors​ ​researching​ ​for​ ​Wikipedia.11

We​ ​would​ ​like​ ​to​ ​eventually​ ​transition​ ​key​ ​publisher​ ​partners​ ​to​ ​a​ ​toll-free​ ​access​ ​referral program​ ​that​ ​could​ ​drastically​ ​enhance​ ​reader​ ​access​ ​to​ ​sources.​ ​Under​ ​this​ ​model,​ ​a​ ​reader clicking​ ​on​ ​a​ ​paywalled​ ​link​ ​on​ ​Wikipedia​ ​could​ ​gain​ ​full​ ​text​ ​access​ ​to​ ​the​ ​source​ ​without needing​ ​a​ ​login​ ​or​ ​affiliation,​ ​solely​ ​because​ ​the​ ​traffic​ ​is​ ​referred​ ​from​ ​Wikipedia.​ ​This​ ​would open​ ​to​ ​readers​ ​the​ ​scholarly​ ​resources​ ​on​ ​which​ ​Wikipedia​ ​is​ ​built,​ ​allowing​ ​them​ ​to​ ​truly​ ​use​ ​it as​ ​a​ ​starting​ ​point​ ​for​ ​research​ ​even​ ​if​ ​they​ ​are​ ​unaffiliated​ ​with​ ​well-resourced​ ​libraries​ ​or​ ​do​ ​not meet​ ​the​ ​criteria​ ​for​ ​access​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Library​ ​Card​ ​Platform.

Another​ ​factor​ ​blocking​ ​access​ ​to​ ​sources​ ​is​ ​linkrot—when​ ​content​ ​at​ ​a​ ​particular​ ​URL​ ​is​ ​moved or​ ​deleted—which​ ​leads​ ​to​ ​the​ ​previously​ ​live​ ​link​ ​becoming​ ​a​ ​dead​ ​link.​ ​A​ ​partnership​ ​with Internet​ ​Archive​ ​(IA)​ ​and​ ​volunteer​ ​community​ ​members​ ​led​ ​to​ ​more​ ​than​ ​one​ ​million​ ​outbound broken​ ​links​ ​on​ ​English​ ​Wikipedia​ ​being​ ​replaced​ ​with​ ​archived​ ​versions,​ ​ensuring​ ​that​ ​readers are​ ​still​ ​able​ ​to​ ​access​ ​the​ ​original​ ​sources​ ​cited.​12​​ ​Using​ ​a​ ​Wikipedia​ ​bot​ ​and​ ​IA's​ ​Wayback Machine,​ ​Wikipedia​ ​articles​ ​are​ ​scanned​ ​to​ ​test​ ​if​ ​they​ ​are​ ​dead;​ ​if​ ​they​ ​don't​ ​properly​ ​resolve then​ ​the​ ​Internet​ ​Archive​ ​version​ ​most-closely​ ​dated​ ​to​ ​when​ ​the​ ​original​ ​link​ ​was​ ​added​ ​is inserted​ ​if​ ​available.​ ​Continued​ ​work​ ​in​ ​this​ ​area​ ​will​ ​expand​ ​the​ ​process​ ​to​ ​other​ ​language Wikipedias​ ​and​ ​implement​ ​methods​ ​to​ ​fortify​ ​our​ ​online​ ​citations​ ​against​ ​linkrot​ ​problems​ ​from the​ ​very​ ​moment​ ​when​ ​they​ ​are​ ​first​ ​added​ ​to​ ​Wikipedia.