As the topic of quality is frequently raised on this list, I would
like to point out some of our papers. Me and a colleague have
researched information quality in virtual communities, especially
assessing completeness and correctness.
While we have not worked on Wikipedia (We tested for example World66
and Wikitravel, wikis for travel information) the methodology we
used can easily be transferred to Wikipedia. We claim that it
captures the user perspective in a rigourous way.
The results of these studies were encouraging: virtual communities -
without monetary compensation - are capable of getting even with
comercially produced information products. An open question remains
about the required minimum activity for a virtual community to create
and maintain information of high quality.
I hope this helps and stipulates a discussion. Please do not hesitate
contacting me for any questions.
Prestipino, M., Aschoff, F.-R., Schwabe, G. How up-to-date are Online
Tourism Communities? An Empirical Evaluation of Commercial and Non-
Commercial Information Quality.
40th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-40).
Waikoloa, Big Island, Hawaii, January 3-6, 2007
LINK:
http://arvo.ifi.unizh.ch/im/publications/Prestipino_HICSS_2006.pdf
Prestipino, M., Aschoff, R., Schwabe, G.: What’s the use of
guidebooks in the age of collaborative media? Empirical Evaluation of
free and commercial travel information". 19th Bled eConference
eValues June 5 - 7, 2006, Bled, Slovenia
LINK:
http://arvo.ifi.unizh.ch/im/publications/48_Prestipino.pdf
This paper presents ideas on how to improve technology for
information exchange in virtual communities
Prestipino, M., "Supporting Collaborative Information Spaces for
Tourists", Conference Proceedings Mensch und Computer 2004, 2004.
LINK:
http://arvo.ifi.unizh.ch/im/publications/prestipino_mc2004.
Best regards
Marco Prestipino
**********************************************
Marco Prestipino, M.Sc.
Arbeitsgruppe Informationsmanagement
Institut für Informatik
Büro 2.D.11
binzmuehlestrasse 14, ch-8050 zuerich, switzerland