I think the decision on the scope probably depends on whether people who speak that
language also speak other languages. For example, many people in the Netherlands and
Norway speak English very well. There may be less need to provide some topics in their own
language if that topic is well-covered in Wikipedia so perhaps the focus can be more on
local content. But if the speakers of that language are less likely to speak a
"larger" language, then the need to provide a wide variety of non-local topics
may be more important than providing information on local topics.
I don't know if any Wikipedias consciously make a decision to focus (or not) on local
content, but even if they do, I presume they are hostage to the interests of their
contributors (unless they actively remove the material). That is, you get the topics that
the contributors are willing and able to write, no matter what the intention might be.
Australians are often surprised to find content about the Australian Outback appears in
German Wikipedia and not in English Wikipedia but if you travel in the Outback, the reason
is obvious -- the outback is full of German tourists in campervans and this is reflected
in their Wikipedia contributions.
Kerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Wiki-research-l [mailto:wiki-research-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of
Ziko van Dijk
Sent: Thursday, 13 December 2018 8:02 PM
To: Research into Wikimedia content and communities
<wiki-research-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: [Wiki-research-l] Readers of Wikipedia
Hello,
I just watched the showcase of December 2018, thank you for the interesting contribution!
It would be great it further research could have a look at questions such as language
choice.
With regard to have more insight in what readers want, I struggled in the past with two
questions:
Regionally important content: Should a Wikipedia language version concentrate on regional
topics, or try to cover a large variety of topics?
Heinz Kloss in the 1970s introduced the idea of "eigenbezogene Inhalte",
content, that is closely related to a language and its region, like local history, culture
and typical crafts such as fishing on the Faroe islands or farming in the Alps. What do
the readers in Hungary want? That hu.WP concentrates on Hungarian topics, while they
consult English wikipedia for specialized technical topics or other countries?
Large or small articles: Some printed encyclopedias had relatively few, but large
articles. Others segmented the content into many small articles.
(Think of Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropedia and Micropedia.) What do Wikipedia readers
want? Do they prefer to read about a larger topic in one long, well structured article? Or
several short ones, linking to each other?
I could imagine that a reader who is interested in information for work or school prefers
long articles that provide an in-depth approach in order to became familiar with the
overall topic (that is, what one would expect traditionally). And that "news"
readers want to look up something quickly, in a short, simplyfing article.
Kind regards
Ziko
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