Page:Wikipedia and Academic Libraries.djvu/141

128 wiki-based editing system. In African countries, this presents librarians with the challenge of locating the various language communities. As a result, some librarians may be working solo or struggle to engage with the Wikipedia community. Finding editors who speak the same language or librarians willing to join the movement and finding resources written in local languages can be a tedious task.

Librarians need to raise awareness on the relevance of Wikipedia in teaching, learning, and research. This awareness would expose the values and positive features of Wikipedia, which would help clear existing misconceptions surrounding Wikipedia. Librarians could learn from Wikipedia user groups, such as Wikimedia Nigeria, and local language hubs, which are creating awareness and collaborating effectively.

Wikipedia is a starting point for research and is often the top result in Google searches (OCLC, 2020). Wikipedia articles can link to external library resources such as institutional repositories. This creates visibility to not only the institutional repository and library holdings, but also the author of that intellectual work, which would in turn bring maximum impact to publications and improve the library’s profile.

Wikipedia also gives room for amplification of stories that are not available on the open web (OCLC, 2020). Libraries, as a powerhouse of knowledge, hold a lot of stories, pertaining to histories, cultures, and indigenous knowledge that may not be in existence or openly accessible online. Librarians can write articles based on their frequently asked questions, reference queries, notable personalities, and burdening issues in their present environment with links to verifiable resources to back up the stories.

Using Wikipedia to teach research improves best practices such as proper and enhanced use of Wikipedia for research, learning, literature review, contribution to knowledge, coding, online etiquette, citation, and, above all, copy-right, among others (Hoeck & Hoffmann, 2013; Kalaf, 2018). Students being taught the dynamics of Wikipedia articles would take them into the world of critical thinking, reading, and deep research skills, because the hyperlinks that lead to different information would equip their flexibility in online navigation, intensify their literature search skills, as well as improve their source evaluation. An online