Book Review: Leveraging Wikipedia: Connecting Communities of Practice

Abstract

The refrain that reappears throughout Leveraging Wikipedia is that Wikipedia and GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) are natural allies and a fair amount of text is dedicated to convincing the reader of this. It promises practical strategies for putting this alliance to work and ultimately delivers on that promise, if in a circuitous and somewhat repetitive way. After the first few chapters it becomes clear that there are only so many established ways for library professionals to harness the audience and infrastructure of Wikipedia for the benefit of their library. The authors offer a wide array of examples for how they tailored these tried and true methods for the specific niche of their work. The task of building on this existing foundation with innovative new partnerships between Wikipedia and libraries rests on the shoulders of the reader.