Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Library/COI

 'The Wikipedia Library Before you start: Conflict of interest?



Wikipedia gets a lot of spam, and librarians and archivists sometimes get caught in the anti-spam net. To be clear, subject specialists are not prohibited to link to or reference their own collections, but it takes care to get it right and have a positive experience interacting with other editors.

The basic advice for you is to:
 * REGISTER: Create an account, for you individually – not your organization; e.g. User:Jmaloney or User:JmaloneyNYU, but not User:NYUArchives (see the account naming policy for more information)
 * DISCLOSE: Mention and explain your institutional affiliation on your userpage and explain how you are here to help
 * HIGHLIGHT: Link to your substantial collections that are most relevant to articles.
 * INCLUDE: Add relevant collections from other archives that you know have substantial holdings
 * ENGAGE: Respond thoughtfully to any community concerns raised in discussion
 * COMMUNICATE: Speak in a friendly, clear, and specific manner while you are seeking consensus

This plain and simple conflict of interest guide can walk you through the best practices. Do not fear: as a knowledge gatekeeper of an archive or other holding you have an alignment of interest with the community because you are interested in disseminating that knowledge to the public!

If a link cannot be used as a reliable source to improve the text of the article, it may be placed under further reading or external links if it complies with the external links guideline. Bear in mind, kindly, that Wikipedia is not a mirror or a repository of links, images, or media files, so it is essential to pick unique and relevant sources rather than linking to everything just anywhere.
 * Incorporate or link


 * Making claims about your own institution or holdings

Be particularly careful when making or citing claims about your holdings themselves&mdash;such as to the importance or prominence of that holding or collection. When doing so, include citations to sources not published by your own organization, such as an outside scholar, talking about the importance of that holding. Rather than making a claim about the importance of your holding yourself, demonstrate how this is a commonly accepted opinion.

Museum curators, librarians, archivists, and similar are encouraged to help improve Wikipedia, or to share their information in the form of links to their resources. (source: WP:CURATOR)
 * The takeaway