Wikipedia:Sourcehelpers

Sourcehelpers are people with searchable database access who neutrally assist those without such access in finding resources which support certain concepts, as expressed in the course of writing Wikipedia articles. Sourcehelpers do not make judgments about the validity of such expressions, but rather only find what particular sources say on the exact specific concepts in question, providing small excised quotes on request.

Recent discussions have tried to deal with how Wikimedia can procure paid access to proprietary publication search engines. Such access would come as a package of separate accounts, and be uniquely assigned to interested editors, who would then act on requests from wiki editors for assistance in finding better reference sources for particular passages, statements, and concepts.

A nearly identical concept at WikiProject Resource Exchange (consisting of shared resources and resource requests) while expansive, is fairly inactive. The Sourcehelpers idea is an attempt at reconceptualizing the idea to include not just particular resources, but searchable portals which might have serious rules regarding their usage, but nevertheless are a serious resource to consider using here. Formulating a simple set of local rules for their usage is likely to keep account holder and WikiMedia itself from violating particular terms of service, and provide a legal middle ground between the concepts of proprietary searching and open sourcing.

Already there are people with their own private or professional access to such databases. At issue is whether or not they can openly volunteer to assist other people in using such databases, and whether we can find a formula which would allow them to use such access to help other Wikipedians. For many portals, the sharing of whole articles with other individuals is acceptable and within the terms of their contract. For others, whole-article sharing is not. Using excised quotes is a possible solution, and offering a search-listed selection of such excised quotes is likewise a possible compromise.

For a March 2009 thread on the wikien-l mailing list, see entry 099229.

Online databases

 * AltLaw
 * Factiva
 * Foreign Broadcast Information Service
 * ISI Web of Knowledge & Web of Science
 * Jane's Information Group
 * Joint Publications Research Service
 * LexisNexis
 * NATO Open Source Intelligence Reader
 * OSS.Net
 * Open Source Center
 * Open Source Information System
 * Open Source Intelligence
 * SITE Institute
 * Space Imaging Middle East
 * World-Check

External link

 * "JSTOR provides free access to Wikipedia editors via pilot program", Steven Walling, November 19th, 2012 (Wikimedia blog)