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This study presents the librarian’s role in front of new users’ demand for which it has made necessary to know tools that have been available, as the LaTeX. In this respect, it aims to introduce and motivate librarians and students to use the LaTeXby understanding it under its structure and as a resource that has been used by the users of academic libraries in their works. So it was made a bibliographic research to apply the concepts through an action research, which was based ontwo strategies to collect data: from the observation of the structure of theses and dissertations on Physics and from tests that were made by using some LaTeX editors. This paper also discusses the importance of standardizing academic works by using the LaTeX and encouraging librarians to carry it out. Then, the main functions of the LaTeXare presented as a tool developed to edit complex texts and to define commands for citations and bibliographical references through the BibTeX format and the reference manager called JabRef. Thus, this study presents a proposal of template which was structured on ShareLaTeX, which is available online to edit and to share complex text. The template was developed according to the Brazilian standardization, which is managed by the Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (ABNT), focusing on contributing to format technical and scientific works. Finally, it points out the importance of librarians to be prepared to attend new demand from users, mainly referring to the new ways to standardize academic works, taking the LaTeX as an example to be understood by librarians and to be used in academic libraries, according to specificities of each area of knowledge.

Wikipedia is cited in high-profile scientific journals, despite its poor reputation as information source. What warrants this acceptance by scientists? In search for answers, this article presents an assessment of the English Wikipedia according to Silberger's guide for reference works, analyzing its purpose, scope, arrangement, information given, access, and special characteristics, with an additional aspect: quality control of new content. An account of the author's experience in creating an entry in the Portuguese Wikipedia complements the assessment. In conclusion, Wikipedia has high quality content, with advantages such as the large volume of content in many languages, as well as disadvantages such as the emphasis on “popular” topics. There is also inadequate content, whose containment and repair depend on the literacy and engagement of the linguistic community that publishes it, as well as on following Wikipedia's editorial principles. Content creation is an opportunity to engage higher education students, as well as content evaluation, which is a form of peer review. Fruitful use of Wikipedia content depends essentially on the reader's critical judgment.