by Gary Price
New Article: “VIAFbot and the Integration of Library Data on Wikipedia”
October 15, 2013 by Gary Price
The following article appears in the latest issue of the Code4Lib Journal (Issue 22) that became available yesterday.
Title
VIAFbot and the Integration of Library Data on Wikipedia
Authors
Maximilian Klein
OCLC
Alex Kyrios
Metadata and Catalog Librarian
University of Idaho
Source
Code4Lib Journal (Issue 22)
Abstract
This article presents a case study of a project, led by Wikipedians in Residence at OCLC and the British Library, to integrate authority data from the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) with biographical Wikipedia articles.
This linking of data represents an opportunity for libraries to present their traditionally siloed data, such as catalog and authority records, in more openly accessible web platforms. The project successfully added authority data to hundreds of thousands of articles on the English Wikipedia, and is poised to do so on the hundreds of other Wikipedias in other languages.
Furthermore, the advent of Wikidata has created opportunities for further analysis and comparison of data from libraries and Wikipedia alike. This project, for example, has already led to insights into gender imbalance both on Wikipedia and in library authority work. We explore the possibility of similar efforts to link other library data, such as classification schemes, in Wikipedia.
Direct to Full Text Article
Direct to Virtual International Authority File
Direct to Complete Table of Contents for Code4Lib Journal (Issue 22)
Filed under: Data Files, Libraries, News
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.