15 years ago a new multilingual, web-based, free-content encyclopaedia project was launched. With the birth of Wikipedia, freedom of access to information reached a different level, enabling millions of users over the past 15 years to not only gather information but also enhance the information provided with their own expertise.

Wikipedia 15On behalf of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), I would like to take the opportunity to extend our congratulations to the Wikimedia Foundation on the 15th birthday of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a truly fantastic achievement!

I would also like to encourage librarians worldwide to participate in the #1Lib1Ref (One Librarian, One Reference) campaign, hosted by Wikipedia Library, during this birthday week of Wikipedia. As Wikipedia is often the first stop for researchers world-wide, the campaign asks librarians to improve the quality of references on Wikipedia by adding one citation to a reliable source to a Wikipedia article of your choice. Let’s all help to improve Wikipedia’s sources!

I am looking forward to seeing many more interesting and ground-breaking initiatives from the Wikimedia Foundation and wish you a successful next 15 years and more!

Sincerely,

Donna Scheeder
IFLA President