Capacitating Librarians with Wikidata Literacy for Managing Wikipedia Information Resources: Implications to Libraries

Introduction: The integration of Wikidata literacy in librarianship presents a significant opportunity to enhance the curation and management of Wikipedia’s structured data while improving library metadata practices. This paper explores the role of Wikidata literacy in equipping librarians with the skills necessary to contribute to Wikipedia’s knowledge ecosystem and improve information services within libraries. Methods: The paper employed the narrative review to examine the role of wiki-data literacy in equipping librarians with the skills necessary to contribute to Wikipedia’s knowledge-base. Results: The study examines key aspects of Wikidata literacy, including its role in structuring and organizing information, its impact on library cataloging and metadata practices, and its influence on library-user interactions. Furthermore, it highlights the implications of Wikidata literacy for improving information literacy programs and fostering collaboration among libraries and Wikimedia communities. Despite the numerous benefits, the paper identifies several challenges in capacitating librarians with Wikidata literacy, such as technical complexity, lack of structured training programs, institutional reluctance, and resource limitations. Conclusions: The paper concludes that Wikidata literacy is essential for modern libraries to remain relevant in the digital age, facilitating open access, improving knowledge discovery, and strengthening the role of libraries as key contributors to global information networks.