Celebrating 1Lib1Ref Australasia 2026
Sophie Sparrow (WANZ) & Ali Smith (WMAU)
Wikimedia Australia (WMAU) and Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand (WANZ) ran #1Lib1Ref Australasia from 15 May to 5 June 2026, the Southern Hemisphere window of the global "One Librarian, One Reference" campaign. The two chapters partnered for a second year, pooling staff resources, training, sharing workshops and inviting library and information professionals across both countries to add citations to Wikipedia.
Organisers in both countries drew on their partnerships within the GLAM sector to promote the campaign, with a particular focus on libraries. Both the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) helped get the word out. Targeted messaging called on Librarians and Information Professionals as the perfect people to get involved and help ‘improve the internet’ while contributing to free and accessible knowledge for all.
The recent rise in the use of AI models to access information online supported our call to action. The need for verified, trustworthy information has never been greater, and Wikipedia relies on volunteer editors to keep content relevant and reliable. The campaign included a mix of online and in-person sessions:
- Intro to Wiki Referencing online workshop, 21 May, co-led by Pru Mitchell (WMAU) and Tamsin Braisher (WANZ).
Pru is a librarian and educator from Australia, and Tamsin is a researcher and Wikimedian in Residence in New Zealand. Together they guided participants on the best ways to enhance Wikipedia’s references, covered the basics for beginners, and also explored using some of Wikipedia's automatic citation tools to streamline editing.
- Cite Right drop-in editing workshops online on 22 May, 29 May and 5 June.
WMAU held three hands-on drop-in editing sessions for new editors to drop in, chat, learn and edit together! In small groups, new editors were guided on how to add references and citations to Wikipedia. Editors were encouraged to share their edits and screens during the calls to receive feedback.
- Five in-person events across Australia and New Zealand, including Melbourne, Canberra, Dunedin, Ōtautahi Christchurch, and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, were held in Libraries, led by local wikimedians for their colleagues.
A video was made of the Introduction to Wiki References session and is available on YouTube and Wikimedia Commons.
Across the three weeks, the Outreach Dashboard recorded 37 editors, 210 articles created, 4,540 articles edited, 11,700 edits, 4,170 references added, 485 Commons uploads, 1.32 million words added, and 2.91 million article views!
This year saw impressive growth compared to 2025, with increases in all areas. The number of articles edited, number of total edits, and number of words added all more than doubled.
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
| Articles created | 9 | 112 | 210 |
| Articles edited | 299 | 908 | 4.54K |
| Total edits | 853 | 4.82K | 11.7K |
| Words added | 61.4K | 500K | 1.32M |
| References added | 945 | 2.61K | 4.17K |
Both WMAU and WANZ are thrilled with how #1Lib1Ref Australasia grew in its second year, and we want to thank every librarian, information professional and new editor who gave their time to add references and strengthen Wikipedia.
This article also appeared in This Month in GLAM May 2026, 9 June 2026.
