African academic libraries partnering with Wikimedia projects: Values and benefits

Abstract

Wikimedia as a foundation is the mother of all Wikis. “It supports hundreds of people around the world in creating the largest free knowledge projects in history” (Wikimedia foundation, https://wikimediafoundation.org). Its resources give benefits that can emerge from the collaboration of librarians and Wikimedia. However, despite the rich contents and vast availability of information on Wikimedia, many scholars refute the credibility of Wikimedia contents. This chapter addresses the benefits and values of African academic libraries partnering with Wikimedia projects and gives a brief definition on the concepts of Wikimedia and Wikipedia. How academic libraries directly improve Wikimedia resources for a reliable information; particularly, it highlights the need to rightly posit librarians as custodians of knowledge, relating the campaigns of 1Lib1Ref and other related projects where librarians in Africa through the African Library and Information Associations and Institution (AfLIA) collaborated with Wikipedia to add reliable sources, edit articles, and write stories to promote the quality, authority, and reliability of intellectual contents in Wikipedia. It demonstrates the engagement of academic libraries in the development of information resources to aid access to information for all citizens through linking of institutional repository materials to wiki articles in line with the UNESCO policy of ensuring public access to information (UNESCO, 2017). It also discusses challenges associated with the use of Wikimedia resources in some institutions and draws conclusion that Wikipedia promotes discoverability of library resources, librarians improve the reliability of its contents as an important tool to leverage on, in pursuit of academic endeavors, thus providing an interception between Wikipedia and academic libraries.