Using Wikipedia in Libraries

I want to go on record as saying that I love Wikipedia. I’m a contributor and user of Wikipedia and often steer students and others to this valuable resource to answer quick reference questions or to get an overview on a topic, especially current events or popular culture. Does Wikipedia have issues? Sure, but then so does every other reference tool from the venerated Encyclopaedia Britannica to a pathfinder created to illustrate the finer points of a library’s collection. I would rather teach our students how to be proficient users of any information source than to prohibit them from using this popular and, often times, well-written and well-researched source.

Inside Higher Ed has a great article today about how the University of Houston is harnessing the power of Wikipedia to gain more exposure for their digital collections. This is a novel and excellent way to “partner” with Wikipedia to make Library collections and resources more readily and widely available. I would challenge my fellow librarians to look for other ways to “partner” with Wikipedia to make the resource better. Consider editing or creating a Wikipedia article. Look for ways to incorporate Wikipedia into library instruction or reference service. Or use Wikipedia to highlight collections and resources at your local library like the University of Houston has. Wikipedia is only as good as the people adding information to it and I feel that we librarians have a lot to add to the mix.

Could this be the end of the Statistical Abstract?

The Statistical Abstract of the United States is a neat little reference work. It’s been around since 1878 and provides all sorts of nuggets and gems of information about the US all gathered together in one place. And it’s about to die an untimely death due to budget cuts.

And just when you think, “Do we really need to spend money on this anachronism when Wikipedia and Google are chock full of this type of information — for free?”, you realize that much of the statistical information in these sources is taken directly from the Statistical Abstract due to its public domain nature and its comprehensiveness. The availability of this type of data will be much harder to locate, without paying for it or doing a lot of research in other sources, in a world without the Statistical Abstract.

There are efforts afoot to save the Statistical Abstract. If you believe the production of this work is important and should continue, please sign the petition.