Page:The Wikipedia Library-The largest encyclopedia needs a digital library and we are building it By Jake Orlowitz.pdf/8

8 The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​started​ ​in​ ​2010​ ​as​ ​an​ ​English​ ​Wikipedia​ ​community-based​ ​volunteer effort,​ ​to​ ​address​ ​the​ ​lack​ ​of​ ​access​ ​to​ ​reliable​ ​sources​ ​for​ ​editors​ ​to​ ​build​ ​Wikipedia​ ​articles.​ ​The Library’s​ ​first​ ​initiative​ ​was​ ​to​ ​seek​ ​account​ ​donations​ ​from​ ​publishers​ ​and​ ​aggregators​ ​to provide​ ​access​ ​to​ ​editors​ ​so​ ​they​ ​could​ ​summarize​ ​and​ ​cite​ ​this​ ​research​ ​on​ ​Wikipedia.

An​ ​anecdote​ ​reveals​ ​the​ ​simple​ ​but​ ​powerful​ ​alignment​ ​between​ ​the​ ​interests​ ​of​ ​Wikipedia's editors​ ​and​ ​publishers​ ​of​ ​reliable​ ​sources.When​ ​I​ ​founded​ ​The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library,​ ​one​ ​of​ ​my very​ ​first​ ​calls​ ​was​ ​to​ ​the​ ​news​ ​and​ ​magazine​ ​aggregator​ ​HighBeam​ ​Research,​ ​to​ ​gain​ ​a​ ​few additional​ ​resources​ ​for​ ​a​ ​minor​ ​biography​ ​I​ ​was​ ​writing.​ ​Upon​ ​being​ ​asked,​ ​"for​ ​an​ ​account​ ​for me...​ ​and​ ​maybe​ ​a​ ​few​ ​for​ ​my​ ​close​ ​editing​ ​friends,"​ ​HighBeam's​ ​head​ ​of​ ​customer​ ​service remarked,​ ​"​How​ ​about​ ​1000​?"

Credo​ ​Reference​ ​was​ ​the​ ​earliest​ ​partner,​ ​providing​ ​500​ ​free​ ​accounts​ ​to​ ​top​ ​article​ ​writers​ ​in 2011.​ ​HighBeam,​ ​Questia,​ ​Cochrane,​ ​and​ ​JSTOR​ ​followed​ ​in​ ​2012.​ ​The​ ​project​ ​received funding​ ​for​ ​a​ ​pilot​ ​experiment​ ​from​ ​the​ ​Wikimedia​ ​Foundation​ ​in​ ​2013​ ​in​ ​the​ ​form​ ​of​ ​an Individual​ ​Engagement​ ​Grant,​ ​broadening​ ​its​ ​outreach​ ​efforts​ ​and​ ​developing​ ​community capacity​ ​to​ ​scale.​3 ​The​ ​editing​ ​community's​ ​enthusiastic​ ​reception​ ​and​ ​positive​ ​participation​ ​in the​ ​program​ ​led​ ​to​ ​TWL​ ​being​ ​incorporated​ ​into​ ​the​ ​Wikimedia​ ​Foundation​ ​in​ ​2014​ ​as​ ​part​ ​of what​ ​is​ ​now​ ​the​ ​Community​ ​Engagement​ ​department.

From​ ​the​ ​beginning,​ ​The​ ​Wikipedia​ ​Library​ ​set​ ​ambitious​ ​and​ ​broad​ ​goals​4:

Connect​ ​editors​ ​with​ ​their​ ​local​ ​library​ ​and​ ​freely​ ​accessible​ ​resources

Facilitate​ ​access​ ​to​ ​paywalled​ ​publications