Jump to content

The Wikipedia Library/Newsletter/September-October 2025

From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki
The Wikipedia Library
Books & Bytes
Issue 71, September–October 2025

Sign up for bi-monthly delivery

In this issue we highlight #1Lib1RefNG, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Wikipedia Library access template, and, as always, a roundup of news and community items related to libraries and digital knowledge.

Spotlight: 1Lib1Ref 2025 in Nigeria

[edit]
This spotlight is adapted from a Diff post by Meritkosy, Halima Waziri and Barakat WUGN.

The 2025 edition of the #1Lib1RefNG campaign was conducted from June 1 to June 30, 2025, by Wikimedia User Group Nigeria, as part of the global #1Lib1Ref initiative. The aim of the campaign is to improve the quality and credibility of Wikipedia articles by encouraging librarians, Wikimedians, and knowledge lovers across Nigeria to add missing references. This year's campaign combined a national competition with community-led edit-a-thons and two major events: an online office hour and an in-person training session. Networks across various states such as Abuja Network, Gombe Network, Anambra Network, Imo Network and others hosted local events with support from the Community Micro Grants to enable regional participation. See the results on the Outreach Dashboard.

The 1Lib1RefNG 2025 campaign successfully mobilized Nigerian editors to improve Wikipedia's reliability by adding references. With a competitive structure, practical training, and nationwide collaboration, it showcased the collective impact of librarians and volunteers in the open knowledge movement.

Frankfurt Book Fair

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library team attended the Frankfurt Book Fair again this October, along with colleagues from Wikimedia Deutschland. We met with our existing partners, as well as prospects, to build and maintain partnerships for the library. Over the coming months, we will be following up with publishers we met at the book fair and expect to expand our access and add new collections to the library.

Tech tip: Wikipedia Library access template

[edit]

The new Wikipedia Library access template on English Wikipedia allows you to add a link to a resource accessed via The Wikipedia Library. The template's output is only visible in mainspace (article namespace) for autoconfirmed users, so doesn't affect the reading experience for unregistered users, but allows more experienced users to easily see that they could get access via the library. According to the template's creator, Pineapple Storage, "the aim of the template was to potentially further improve the TWL user experience by speeding up TWL access (as well as reducing fruitless searches)".

Bytes in brief

[edit]

Thanks for reading! To receive a bimonthly talk page update about new issues of Books & Bytes, please add your name to the subscriber's list.