The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 66, November – December 2024

• Les Jours and East View Press join the library
• Tech tip: Newspapers.com

Read the full newsletter

• Recent research: GPT-4 writes better edit summaries than human Wikipedians
  But an open language model is ready to help.

• News and notes: Let's talk!
  The WMF executive team delivers a new update; plus, the latest EU policy report, good-bye to the German Wikipedia's Café, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Opinion: Fathoms Below, but over the moon
  Editor Fathoms Below reminisces over their successful RfA from February 2024.

• In the media: Wikipedia is an extension of legacy media propaganda, says Elon Musk
  Plus, reports on the ARBPIA5 case, new concerns over projects targeting Wikipedia editors, John Green gets his sponsor flowers, and other news.

• Community view: 24th Wikipedia Day in New York City
  Wikimedians and newbies celebrate 24 years of Wikipedia in the Brooklyn Central Library. Special guests Stephen Harrison and Clay Shirky joined in conversation.

• Arbitration report: Palestine-Israel articles 5 has closed
  Ending with some bans, and a new set of editing sanctions.

• Traffic report: A wild drive
  The start of the year was filled with a few unfortunate losses, tragic disasters, emerging tech forces and A LOT of politics.

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 67, January – February 2025

• East View Press and The Africa Report join the library
• Spotlight: Wikimedia+Libraries International Convention and WikiCredCon
• Tech tip: Suggest page

Read the full newsletter

• From the editor: Hanami
  It's an ecstasy, my spring.

• Opinion: Talking about governments editing Wikipedia
  Let them know what you think!

• News and notes: Deeper look at takedowns targeting Wikipedia
  Read this, then forget all about it.

• In the media: The good, the bad, and the unusual
  Life on the Wiki as usual!

• Recent research: Explaining the disappointing history of Flagged Revisions; and what's the impact of ChatGPT on Wikipedia so far?
  And WMF invites multi-year research fund proposals

• Traffic report: All the world's a stage, we are merely players...
  The Oscars, politics, and death elbow for the most attention.

• Gallery: WikiPortraits rule!
  The photographers are the celebrities!

• Essay: Unusual biographical images
  And very unusual biographical images.

• Obituary: Rest in peace
  Send not to know
  For whom the bell tolls,
  It tolls for thee.

• News and notes: India cut off from Wiki money; WMF annual plan and Wikimedia programs seek comment
  As always, Wikimedia community governance relies on user participation; plus, more updates from the Wikimedia world

• In the media: Feds aiming for WMF's nonprofit status
  Scrapers, an Indian lawsuit, and a crash-or-not-crash?

• Recent research: How readers use Wikipedia health content; Scholars generally happy with how their papers are cited on Wikipedia
  And other new research findings.

• Arbitration report: Sysop Tinucherian removed and admonished by the ArbCom
  And don't bite those newbies!

• Discussion report: Latest news from Centralized discussions
  And don't bite those newbies!

• Traffic report: Of Wolf and Man
  Television dramas, televised sports, film, the Pope, and ... bioengineering at the top of the list?

• Disinformation report: At WikiCredCon, Wikipedia editors and Internet Archive discuss threats to trust in media
  Community volunteers network among themselves and use technology to counter attacks on information sharing.

• News from the WMF: Product & Tech Progress on the Annual Plan
  A look at some product and tech highlights from the Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Plan (July–December 2024).

• Humour: Crisis erupts as furious admins, functionaries complain about crappy t-shirts
  Hey! At least it is something!

• Comix: By territory
  Zounds!

• In focus: Using AI on the Russian Wikipedia: opportunities or challenges?
  Would a billion articles be a good idea?

• Community view: A deep dive into Wikimedia
  There's a lot more to this than you think.

• Debriefing: Barkeep49's RfB debriefing
  I wonder about having crats, but decided to become one anyway.

• Gallery: Meet the winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2024
  Just beautiful photos!

• Obituary: JarrahTree, JohnClarknew and Yashthepunisher
  Rest in Paradise.

In this issue we highlight two resource renewals, #EveryBookItsReader, a note about Phabricator, and, as always, a roundup of news and community items related to libraries and digital knowledge.

In this issue we highlight a new partnership, Citation Watchlist and, as always, a roundup of news and community items related to libraries and digital knowledge.

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation loses a round in court
  UK Online Safety Act remains undefeated.

• In the media: Congress probes, mayor whitewashed, AI stinks
  Plus Wiki rules, Wiki Spin, and physicists get street cred!

• Disinformation report: A guide for Congress
  The price of Liberty is eternal vigilance.

• Recent research: Minority-language Wikipedias, and Wikidata for botanists
  And other new research findings.

• Technology report: A new way to read Wikisource
  Tis true: there's magic in the web of it.

• Traffic report: Check out some new Weapons, weapon of choice
  With the usual mix of war, death, super heroes, a belt, and Wednesday.

• Essay: The one question
  It's an easy one.

• New collections:
  • Times of Malta
  • Africa Intelligence
  • Intelligence Online
  • La Lettre
  • Glitz
• Spotlight: Wikimania

• News and notes: Larry Sanger returns with "Nine Theses on Wikipedia"; WMF publishes transparency report
  This time "not merely negative".

• In the media: Extraordinary eruption of "EVIL" explained
  Wickedpedia wrangles post-truth politics.

• Disinformation report: Emails from a paid editing client
  Unexpected news!

• Discussion report: Sourcing, conduct, policy and LLMs: another 1,339 threads analyzed
  Fifty hot topics from fourteen noticeboards.

• Community view: The pressing questions of the modern WWW, as seen from the Village Pump
  Policy, politics, icons, captchas, and LLMs.

• Recent research: Is Wikipedia a merchant of (non-)doubt for glyphosate?; eight projects awarded Wikimedia Research Fund grants
  And other recent publications.

• Opinion: Some disputes aren't worth it
  When to walk away.

• Obituary: Michael Q. Schmidt
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: Death, hear me call your name
  Celebrities, deaths and software.

• Comix: A grand spectacle
  All invited!

• Spotlight: 1Lib1Ref 2025 in Nigeria
• Frankfurt Book Fair
• Tech tip: Wikipedia Library access template

• News and notes: Election cycles come and go, and Wikimedia Foundation achieves record revenue in 2024–2025!
  Admin and ArbCom elections upcoming, BoT elects two new members, task force advises to close Wikinews and keep Wikispore, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• In the media: Wales walk-off, antisemitism, supernatural powers, feminism turmoil, saints, and sex
  Plus mammoth mummy sex-change operation completed!

• Recent research: At least 80 million inconsistent facts on Wikipedia – can AI help find them?
  And other recent publications about contradictions and retractions.

• Disinformation report: Epstein email exchanges planned strategy, edits and reported progress
  At work on Wikipedia whitewashing. How much should they be paid?

• Traffic report: It's a family affair
  Even in these times there is something to be thankful for!

• Book review: The Seven Rules of Trust
  Jimmy Wales and Dan Gardner write a book inspired by Wikipedia. What's in it?

• From the archives: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein ..."
  The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.

• Humour: An interview with Wikipe-tan
  A conversation about being the mascot of Wikipedia.

• Opinion: AI finds errors in 90% of Wikipedia's best articles
  Using ChatGPT to fact-check a month's worth of Today's featured articles.

• Serendipity: Highlights from the itWikiCon 2025
  A recap of the latest convention of the Italian Wiki-community, held in Catania from 7–9 November.

• Comix: Madness
  It could happen to anyone.

• News and notes: Wikipedia's 25th anniversary is here!
  Where does the time go?

• Special report: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call
  The internet is booming. We are not.

• Serendipity: The WMF wants to buy you books!
  Really! A major triumph.

• WikiProject report: Time for a health check: the Vital Signs 2026 campaign
  The campaign to get all of our top-importance medical articles up to B-class or above.

• In the media: Fake Acting President Trump and a Wikipedia infobox
  D.J.T. assumes a new position.

• Community view: The inbox behind Wikipedia
  What the Volunteer Response Team actually does!

• Recent research: Art museums on Wikidata; comparing three comparisons of Grokipedia and Wikipedia
  And other research.

• Traffic report: Tonight I'm gonna rock you tonight
  A world in white gets underway.

• Comix: Oh come on man.
  Really?

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2025
  Everybody had a hard year, everybody had a good time.

• News and notes: Good news... but also bad news for the Public Domain
  Benvenuto Betty Boop, arrivederci Italian Photos.

• News from Diff: Solving puzzles together
  Maryana Iskander says farewell.

• In the media: Every view on the 25th anniversary of everything
  Media about hard-core nerds, a place with paragraphs, baby globes, and wikipedes.

• Comix: Perspectives
  Everybody has one.

• Renewed partnerships
• Spotlight: Strengthening Wikimedia Collaborations with and for Open Science

• Interview: Bernadette Meehan, new Wikimedia Foundation CEO
  Part 2.

• News and notes: Security testing unleashes computer worm on Meta-wiki
  Dormant worm awakes; a sketchy archiving site struck; ether burns.

• Special report: What actually happened during the Wikimedia security incident?
  A horrifying exploit took place, which could have had catastrophic and far-reaching consequences if used maliciously; instead, it seems to have happened by accident and was used for childish vandalism. How did this happen, and what did the script actually do?

• In the media: Indonesian government blocks Wikimedia logins; archive site scoured from Wikipedia after owner runs malware
  As well as controversy over LLM translations.

• Recent research: To wiki, perchance to groki
  Comparisons continue.

• Obituary: Madhav Gadgil, Fredrick Brennan, Mark Miller, Chip Berlet
  Rest in peace.

• Opinion: Interface administrators and trusting trust
  Potential attacks are the logical consequence of giving a group of users unlimited control over JavaScript.

• Technology report: English Wikipedia deprecates archive.today after DDoS against blog, altered content
  After the archive site launched a DDoS campaign against a small blog in January 2026, a request for comment was started, with consensus to deprecate the site used almost 700 thousand times.

• Op-ed: Why is "Trypsin-sensitive photosynthetic activities in chloroplast membranes" cited in "List of tallest buildings in Chicago"?
  The answer is slop.

• Essay: The pursuit of a button click
  Volunteering for Wikipedia has its rewards. The thank-button, for example.

• In focus: Short descriptions: One year later
  A discussion of the challenge set forth to the Wikipedia community one year ago!

• WikiProject report: Unreferenced articles backlog drive
  Unreferenced articles in English Wikipedia - help us in the backlog drive!

• Community view: Speaking of planning ...
  The WMF planning process is underway.

• Traffic report: Over the mountain, kissing silver inlaid clouds
  Death and the Winter Olympics.

• Crossword: "It will never happen"
  Want to take a break?

• Comix: BRIEn't
  Or is it.