Page:The Wikipedia Library-The largest encyclopedia needs a digital library and we are building it By Jake Orlowitz.pdf/5

5 Since​ ​its​ ​inception​ ​in​ ​2011,​ ​TWL​ ​has​ ​established​ ​partnerships​ ​with​ ​nearly​ ​70​ ​publishers, including​ ​the​ ​largest​ ​and​ ​most​ ​scholarly​ ​collections,​ ​to​ ​provide​ ​free​ ​access​ ​for​ ​Wikipedians​ ​to over​ ​80,000​ ​unique​ ​periodicals​ ​and​ ​an​ ​even​ ​greater​ ​number​ ​of​ ​books.​2​​ ​TWL​ ​expanded​ ​its​ ​scope as​ ​we​ ​developed​ ​other​ ​relationships​ ​focused​ ​on​ ​references:​ ​ ​for​ ​example,​ ​working​ ​with​ ​Internet Archive​ ​to​ ​fix​ ​over​ ​one​ ​million​ ​dead​ ​citation​ ​URLs,​ ​developing​ ​OABot​ ​to​ ​link​ ​to​ ​versions marked​ ​as​ ​free-to-read​ ​alongside​ ​paywalled​ ​content​ ​in​ ​citations,​ ​and​ ​integrating​ ​WorldCat's​ ​380 million​ ​ISBNs​ ​into​ ​our​ ​automatic​ ​citation​ ​generator​ ​tool.

The​ ​success​ ​of​ ​the​ ​program​ ​grows​ ​from​ ​what​ ​we​ ​learn​ ​in​ ​partnership​ ​with​ ​library​ ​professionals. The​ ​TWL​ ​team​ ​co-wrote​ ​two​ ​International​ ​Federation​ ​of​ ​Library​ ​Associations​ ​and​ ​Institutions (IFLA)​ ​white​ ​papers​ ​on​ ​Wikipedia​ ​collaboration​ ​with​ ​academic​ ​and​ ​public​ ​libraries,​ ​and​ ​have presented​ ​at​ ​the​ ​American​ ​Library​ ​Association​ ​Annual​ ​Conference,​ ​the​ ​Coalition​ ​for​ ​Networked Information​ ​Membership​ ​Meeting,​ ​Internet​ ​Librarian,​ ​the​ ​Frankfurt​ ​Book​ ​Fair,​ ​OpenCon,​ ​Open Scholarship​ ​Initiative,​ ​and​ ​Digital​ ​Library​ ​Federation​ ​Forum,​ ​among​ ​many​ ​other​ ​conferences.

When​ ​we​ ​began​ ​speaking​ ​about​ ​our​ ​work​ ​in​ ​library​ ​venues​ ​in​ ​2012,​ ​the​ ​reception​ ​was​ ​curious but​ ​cool;​ ​five​ ​years​ ​later,​ ​Wikipedia's​ ​role​ ​in​ ​the​ ​library​ ​ecosystem​ ​is​ ​often​ ​met​ ​with​ ​enthusiasm and​ ​excitement.​ ​It​ ​has​ ​moved​ ​from​ ​"what​ ​are​ ​you​ ​doing​ ​here?"​ ​to​ ​"how​ ​can​ ​we​ ​get​ ​involved?" This​ ​transition,​ ​from​ ​being​ ​on​ ​the​ ​fringes​ ​to​ ​in​ ​the​ ​center,​ ​reflects​ ​the​ ​broader​ ​acceptance​ ​of Wikipedia​ ​and​ ​the​ ​recognition​ ​of​ ​its​ ​central​ ​role​ ​in​ ​the​ ​public's​ ​quest​ ​for​ ​useful​ ​information.