User:Wugapodes/Getting access to offline sources
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All encyclopedic content on Wikipedia must be verifiable to high-quality reliable sources. For many articles a number of these sources can be found online, allowing for easy access and verification, however this can lead to significant content biases as well as difficulty verifying content and removing unverifiable claims. For many encyclopedic topics, the best available sources are only available offline or behind paywalls, making access to the content difficult for many users because of their geographic location or financial circumstances. This essay offers a number of suggestions for gaining access to these offline sources to improve articles of perform bibliographic reviews.
Ask someone
There are a number of Wikipedians who are willing and able to help provide access to sources for use on the encyclopedia.
- You can request a specific resource at Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request
- The Wikipedia Library provides a number of Wikipedians with access to academic databases for improving content. Wikipedians by access to a digital library organizes users with such access by the database they have access to, and many will be willing to share resources with you.
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange and the associated category has wikipedians with access to sources and willing to share them.