A Celebration of NetIKX (and Wikipedia)

On 30 June 2026, at the Civil Service Club in London, the final chapter in the long history of NetIKX was written.

The IRM Network, as it was originally known, was formed as a working group of ASLIB in March 1992. In 2001 it became KIMNET (Knowledge and Information Management Network),the name change reflecting the increasingly close ties between information retrieval and knowledge management. Then in 2006, the decision was made to establish NetIKX as a fully independent network without affiliations to any other organisations. The first meeting was held in 2007, with regular meetings continuing until 2024.

Although the COVID pandemic proved challenging, virtual seminars continued during this time: however, these events never truly replicated NetIKX’s distinct atmosphere of intimate discussion and knowledge-sharing in small breakout groups. As lockdown eased, we reverted to holding in-person meetings and some hybrid events, but attendance never reached pre-pandemic levels and membership declined. In addition, two long-standing committee members, Rob Rosset and Conrad Taylor, sadly died recently. When it became clear that NetIKX could no longer continue, the remaining committee members decided to hold a final event as both a celebration of NetIKX’s achievements and a tribute to Rob and Conrad.

Memories of a unique network

Members and supporters recalled their favourite memories of NetIKX events and spoke of what made NetIKX so special: the blend of professional and academic expertise displayed by the speakers, the opportunity to meet practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds, the practical exercises, and of course the small group discussions with feedback to the entire group, which many saw as NetIKX’s unique selling point.

We shared our memories of Rob and Conrad, as well as honouring another former committee member, Martin Fowkes, who died in 2022. All three were remembered with great fondness and admiration, both for their professional contributions to NetIKX and their personal qualities.

Wikipedia: a continued commitment to information quality

As the committee members had decided to donate NetIKX’s residual funds to Wikimedia UK – a registered charity established to support volunteers in the United Kingdom who work on Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia – our special guest Andy Mabbett, a long-term contributor to Wikipedia, was invited to give an informal talk about his work and the future of Wikipedia. In an age where AI-generated content, often not clearly identified as such, is increasingly prevalent, the Wikimedia Foundation is at the forefront of ensuring that reliable, human-curated information is publicly available.

Andy explained that in the early days, Wikipedia was like the ‘Wild West’, with anyone being able to publish an article. Over the years, while it has retained that spirit of openness and inclusion, stricter controls have been introduced to ensure accuracy of information. Particular emphasis now is put on obtaining reliable citations from trusted sources: for some topics, such as medicine, especially stringent quality control is required. Where a minority view contradicts the agreed scientific consensus, for example in the case of climate change, this is acknowledged but not given equal weight.

Although it’s still the case that anyone can contribute, there’s a hierarchy system for editing permissions, which reduces the risk of vandalism or misinformation. There are many different kinds of contributor, ranging from those who edit a wide range of articles in different fields, to others who concentrate on one niche topic such as a local sports team. There are also the ‘Wikipedia gnomes’ who work quietly behind the scenes fixing typos and broken links.

The future of Wikipedia in an age of AI

In response to audience questions, Andy confirmed that the number of contributors has decreased recently and so has the number of searches. It’s too early to tell whether either of these is related to AI, but it may be the case that people are now simply reading the AI summary which appears at the beginning of Google search results rather than clicking on the Wikipedia link, or indeed going straight to AI apps such as ChatGPT rather than using a search engine. However, there are several encouraging developments at the Wikimedia Foundation, including identifying knowledge gaps and reducing the existing Western bias by identifying reliable secondary sources for traditionally underrepresented cultures and groups of people.

In time-honoured NetIKX tradition, Andy’s talk led into a stimulating discussion and we all gained plenty of insights into the workings of Wikipedia. Incidentally, there is not yet a Wikipedia entry for NetIKX – perhaps one of us will be inspired to create it as a fitting tribute?

Many thanks to Andy and to all who attended and contributed to making this final event so memorable. It was a wonderful opportunity to mark the considerable achievements of NetIKX and ensure that its place in the knowledge and information landscape of the UK will be remembered.