The 2016 joint white paper by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and Wikimedia Foundation, “Opportunities for Academic and Research Libraries and Wikipedia,” states: “The potential of Wikidata to draw linked data and linked data authorities together across the world’s languages and many different ontologies and taxonomies has enormous potential to support researchers around the world.” IFLA’s place as a global organisation for library and information services, with ongoing relationships with organizations like the United Nations shares strong affinities with the aims and scope of the Wikimedia projects.

The IFLA Wikidata Working Group was formed in late 2019 for the purpose of aiding the international library community in organizing around the Wikidata platform to leverage advocacy work and to encourage best practices. This session will discuss the activities of the Working Group, including a series of videos produced through a WikiCite grant, support for #1lib1ref, and ongoing work to support both Wikidata and Wikibase use in the context of library metadata.