Tackling the global misinformation crisis one reference, one librarian at a time
The annual #1Lib1Ref campaign launched today — on Wikipedia’s 19th birthday — inviting librarians across the world to add missing references to articles. Continue reading to learn more about the 2020 campaign and how you can get involved.
Concerns of a global misinformation crisis are on the rise. Whether it’s called “fake news”; “computational propaganda”; “disinformation”; or Dictionary.com’s 2017 Word of the Year, “misinformation,” the meaning is the same: false or inaccurate information that undermines us as learners and global citizens.
According to a new Oxford report, at least 70 countries actively used internet platforms to spread disinformation last year (up from 48 countries in 2018). In Nigeria last year, a viral Facebook post made false claims that coughing could help save a person experiencing a heart attack. And just within the last month, a “disinformation campaign” led by bots and trolls wrongly inflated the role of arson in Australia’s bushfire catastrophe. The list could go on and on.
This crisis is particularly alarming to those of us who work for or care about Wikipedia, the world’s largest encyclopedia. We love facts: finding them, learning them, sharing them. And we respect facts too — which is why we rely on trusted sources to increase verifiability and transparency on Wikipedia. High quality sources are central to our ethos and processes.
No single person or company owns a Wikipedia article. Rather, articles are created and edited collaboratively by a community of volunteers using reliable sources. And readers verify the facts, meaning any person using the encyclopedia can check that the information comes from a quality source.
“Articles are created and edited collaboratively by a community of volunteers using reliable sources.”
As Wikimedia Executive Director Katherine Maher puts it: “What Wikipedia focuses on is not the ultimate truth of any situation. What Wikipedia focuses on is what do we know that is accurate, and what do we know that is verifiable, and how do we present that in a way that allows a reader to come to an informed conclusion about what is going on in the world or what’s important to them.”
Wikipedia is only as strong as its sources. And our sources are only as strong as the knowledge stewards that make them accessible to the world.
Starting today, through our annual #1Lib1Ref campaign, we’re calling on librarians around the world to help make Wikipedia stronger than ever, in a world that needs reliable information from sources like Wikipedia more than ever. We want to imagine a world in which every librarian has added one more reference to Wikipedia.
“Wikipedia is only as strong as its sources. And our sources are only as strong as the knowledge stewards that make them accessible to the world.”
Librarians are some of the most important knowledge stewards. Year round, they serve as trusted professionals who help facilitate access to reliable references for their patrons, and teach them to build the digital literacy skills needed for confronting the misinformation crisis. Librarians are some of Wikipedia’s closest allies, and we benefit from the contributions and thoughtful, critical eye of the library community as we try to improve the global representation and diversity of Wikipedia. #1Lib1Ref celebrates our overlapping mission to foster a more informed public.
And you don’t need to be a librarian to join us in that celebration! Anyone who has a passion for free knowledge and a commitment to facts can join #1Lib1Ref. Here’s more about the campaign and how you can get involved.
How to participate in #1Lib1Ref:
Though the name of the campaign literally means, “One Librarian, One Reference,” #1Lib1Ref has grown to include participation from archivists, professors, researchers, and other Wikimedia volunteer editors.
Anyone (yes, you!) can participate in the campaign through five easy steps:
- Find an article that needs a citation, using Citation Hunt or any other preferred means.
- Find a reliable source that can support that article.
- Add a citation using referencing tools.
- Add the project hashtag #1Lib1Ref in the article’s edit summary.
- Share your edit(s) on social media and invite others to participate!
It’s that easy!
Host an event:
Every year, we invite librarians to organize small events for the campaign. If you are organizing a group for a coffee hour, an editathon, or leading a group of people to add a citation or two, kindly remember to add your event to the January 2019 dashboard (learn more about how to use the dashboard).
We use the dashboard to share accurate data about where #1Lib1Ref activities happened around the world. This year, we’ve improved the hashtag tool to showcase more quantitative statistics, to help you tell more stories about the campaign in your area.
Do you need more information on how to support the campaign? Are you searching for fresh ideas on how to improve your campaign this year? Visit our resource page for inspiration and guidance.
More about #1Lib1Ref:
The 2020 #Lib1Ref campaign is the fifth iteration of a campaign calling on librarians from around the world to add a single reference to Wikipedia, helping make the encyclopedia more reliable and useful.
The campaign runs twice per year: First, from 15 January through 5 February, and later in the year from 15 May to 5 June.
In 2019, more than half of the total participants for the campaign were new editors. Participants made 13,261 edits in more than 50 languages with over 4.12 million words added. These contributions were encouraged through more than 64 in-person (edit-a-thons, coffee hours, etc.) and online events (webinars, office hours, Q&A sessions). We hope to surpass these stats this year.
See our full 2019 campaign report here.
Share your story:
We are using the Facebook page Wikimedia + Libraries to coordinate discussions around the campaign this year. Feel free to drop us a question, start a discussion on a topic of your interest, or provide support to participants who have questions there.
Be sure to join the conversation on social media using #1Lib1Ref and follow Wikimedia Foundation on Twitter and Facebook.
Felix Nartey is a Global Coordinator of the Wikipedia Library. He was also named Wikimedian of the Year in 2017. You can follow him on Twitter at @flixtey.
