Library Stuff

Lifehacker – “The Full Wiki takes your Wikipedia wanderings and extracts actual data from them—data you could cite in actual research, if you wanted to. The webapp pulls hard reference citations from Wikipedia sections you highlight, but also maps, tree-diagrams, and otherwise organizes the wiki-stuff you’re peering through.”

Chicago Tribune – “I have a friend — a librarian — who is steadfastly anti-Wikipedia. I’m sure part of it is that she feels her traditional role as a guardian of information is threatened. As a teacher, I understand Wikipedia is not an acceptable tool for student research, but, holy cow, is Wikipedia amazing. First, the sheer volume of information is astounding. Second, I am always surprised how accurate, organized and balanced the information is. I go to other sources, but somehow I always end up back at Wikipedia.”

NYT – “If Wikipedia is a collaborative project open to all, why are fewer than 15 percent of the site’s contributors women? How authoritative and complete do Wikipedia articles tend to be? In this lesson, students evaluate Wikipedia articles and consider the factors that contribute to the articles’ reliability.”

Wikimedia Blog – “People throughout the world are gathering at more than 450 events in 120 countries to celebrate Wikipedia’s 10th birthday.  I’m amazed and thrilled and humbled by the significant support Wikipedia has in every corner of the world.  When I started Wikipedia a decade ago, I  never imagined that everyday people in places like Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Algeria would come together to celebrate Wikipedia in such an extraordinary way”

Chicago Tribune – “For parents with fond memories of the Dewey Decimal System, library card catalogs and thumbing through their family’s World Book Encyclopedia, it can come as a shock to discover that their own children’s research habits often begin and end with a quick click on Wikipedia. Heather Moorefield-Lang, the education and social-sciences librarian at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., and a former middle school librarian, is aware of the frustration both parents and educators experience when students limit their research efforts to Google and Wikipedia, when a wealth of online tools are at their fingertips, many free of charge.”

Chronicle – “If every episode of every television show deserves to be on Wikipedia, so does every piece of public art. Or at least Jennifer Geigel Mikulay thinks so, which is why she helped start a project to promote the documentation of public art around the world on Wikipedia.”

More here

UPI – “Overheating at Wikipedia’s European data center caused the Internet encyclopedia’s Web site to go offline for part of Wednesday, the Web site said. Wikipedia said its servers automatically shut themselves down to avert heat damage, CNN reported.”

ATD – “Jimmy Wales’ Wikipedia relies almost entirely on free contributions from its users to create a mammoth Web encyclopedia. Could an enterprising/lazy blogger use the same technique to interview Wales?”

BusinessWeek – “Why the search giant and the online encyclopedia have a relationship that benefits both equally”

Press Release – “The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that operates Wikipedia, today announced that it has received a $2 million (USD) grant from the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund of Tides Foundation. This is the Wikimedia Foundation’s first grant from Google. The funds will support core operational costs of the Wikimedia Foundation, including investments in technical infrastructure to support rapidly-increasing global traffic and capacity demands. The funds will also be used to support the organization’s efforts to make Wikipedia easier to use and more accessible.”