For your reference.

Best wishes, Jasmin
________________________________
From: SACO Cataloging Discussion List <[email protected]> on behalf of 
Berthoud, Heidy I <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2025 8:24 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: [SACOLIST] SACO Shorts: When to use Wikipedia (frequently asked 
question)


Cataloging Policy Specialists frequently receive questions on whether Wikipedia 
should be used as a source in 670 notes. It’s difficult to make blanket 
decisions on Wikipedia–some entries are clearly better than others–but we can 
provide some general advice:



Wikipedia should never be your only source. Your first source should be your 
work cat (not Wikipedia), and you should provide evidence from other 
subject-specific authoritative sources (like Ethnologue for languages or 
GNS/GNIS for place names) or from general knowledge authoritative sources (like 
Webster’s online or Encyclopedia Britannica).



If you’ve already cited information from those authoritative sources and the 
Wikipedia entry adds nothing new to your proposal, don’t include it.



However, if the Wikipedia entry provides an alternative spelling of a name or 
contains important information that was not listed in any other source, you can 
include the Wikipedia entry to support your proposal. Again, generally 
speaking, the Policy, Training, and Cooperative Programs Division has found 
that Wikipedia entries usually add the most value as sources of alternative 
names and spellings.



To read more about the research required for subject proposals, please see H202 
Authority Research for Subject Heading 
Proposals<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.loc.gov/aba/publications/FreeSHM/H0202.pdf__;!!IBzWLUs!S9ucnzrutURIzgFPYtzlCK7EKjged5WKaU97QSvTaWjMuzMIF_hTIIT8eoednBLeUGmzqCyTRWGH5Kqqqyk$>.
 Section 1, Citation of sources consulted, part b., Where to search for 
authoritative information, specifically mentions Wikipedia and other 
crowdsourced websites.



SACO Shorts are quick tips that cover common proposal problems or frequently 
asked questions. SACO Shorts are published on the first and third Mondays of 
the month.


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