[Apologies for cross-posting; this same e-mail is being sent to wikipedia-l, WikiEN-l and foundation-l]
Hi everyone,
We are a research group conducting a systematic literature review on Wikipedia-related peer-reviewed academic studies published in the English language. (Although there are many excellent studies in other languages, we unfortunately do not have the resources to systematically review these at any kind of acceptable scholarly level. Also, our study is about Wikipedia only, not about other Wikimedia Foundation projects. However, we do include studies about other language Wikipedias, as long as the studies are published in English.) We have completed a search using many major databases of scholarly research. We've posted separate messages to wiki-research-l related to this literature review.
We have identified over 2,100 peer-reviewed studies that have "wikipedia", "wikipedian", or "wikipedians" in their title, abstract or keywords. As this number of studies is far too large for conducting a review synthesis, we have decided to focus only on peer-reviewed journal publications and doctoral theses; we identified 638 such studies. In addition, we identified around 1,500 peer-reviewed conference articles.
We hope that our review would provide useful insights for both wikipedians and researchers. (Although we know that most Wikipedia researchers are also wikipedians, we define wikipedian or "Wikipedia practitioner" here as someone involved in the Wikipedia project who is not also a scholarly researcher.) In particular, here is a list of some of the research questions we are investigating in our review that are particularly pertinent to wikipedians (you can check wiki-research-l for the full set of research questions):
1. What high-quality research has been conducted with Wikipedia as a major topic or data source? As mentioned in the introductory e-mail, we have already identified over 2,100 studies, though we will only analyze 638 of them in depth. We will group the articles by field of study.
2. What research questions have been asked by various sources, both academic scholarly and practitioner? We want to know both the subjects that the existing research has covered, and also catalogue key questions that practitioners would like to be answered, whether or not academic research has broached these questions. Also, we categorize the research questions based on their purposes.
6. What conclusions have been made from existing research? That is, what questions from RQ2 have been answered, and what are these answers?
7. What questions from RQ2 are left unanswered? (These present directions for future research.)
Regarding our RQ2, on the research questions that have been asked, we want to identify not only the research questions that we extract from the articles, but also what questions are of interest that have not been studied. For this, we have identified a few banks of Wikipedia-related research questions.
We are most of all interested in questions that wikipedians are asking, other than what researchers are asking. There is an old list of research questions or goals at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Research_Goals; these questions are about Wikimedia Foundation projects in general, though Wikipedia is of course included. Could you please review this list and update that page directly with any additional questions? Alternately, you could reply us directly, and we could update the list.
Another bank of questions we have identified is more directed towards academics and researchers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Wikidemia#Research_Quest…. We have asked the wiki-research-l subscribers to update that list. We will draw from both lists for our bank of research questions.
Thanks for your help.
Chitu Okoli, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
(http://chitu.okoli.org/professional/open-content/wikipedia-and-open-content…)
Arto Lanamäki, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Mohamad Mehdi, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Mostafa Mesgari, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Hello,
The foundationsite says in the article peering that the foundation is
looking for free rack-space / routers.
What kind of facilities do they want? Is there a more detailed pages
with the wishes en needs for the foundation, or can that be geven here
on the list?
Best,
Huib
--
Verzonden vanaf mijn mobiele apparaat
Regards,
Huib "Abigor" Laurens
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
A discussion was started some time ago to discuss when it's appropriate to
use global banners. There was fairly clear consensus from the people who
chose to participate, in my view. Does this need wider discussion before
being adopted or can it be put into place now?
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requests_for_comment/Global_banners
MZMcBride
NHK is apparently reporting 9 ft. tsunami heading for Shinchicho, Fukushima Prefecture, from what I'm reading in the stewards channel. If you are in the potential target area, please be safe.
-Dan
(crossposting to multiple lists)
German Wikipedia is accepting Freedom of Panorama for all countries,
and this is the right way to handle the problem.
WMF board should decide not to oppose the results of a desirable
Commons poll that all pictures of buildings (which are free in the US)
should be accepted (if the majority whishes).
Klaus Graf
A very interesting perspective from David McCraney who blogs at "You
are not so smart" <www.youarenotsosmart.com>.
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/02/10/deindividuation/
"Deindividuation pervades virtual worlds, and the results are mixed.
Download “Second Life” and take a stroll. Sooner or later you’ll end
up in a sex dungeon. Play any game on Xbox Live, and someone will
eventually claim to have carnal knowledge of your mother. You can
thank anonymity and deindividuation for both. The comments under a
Youtube video may make you weep for the species, but just click over
to the entry on the humanzee in Wikipedia for restoration. It is
consistent with the world outside the machine. The same force which
built and maintained concentration camps also pushed soldiers onto
Omaha Beach."
Some good lessons for Wikimedia. :)
"Deindividuation takes away your inhibitions as well as your sense of
self and fear of accountability, but this isn’t necessarily a bad
thing. The same force which brings otherwise rational people to loot
and vandalize and invade Poland can also lead to prosocial behaviors.
If you are surrounded by positive cues, deindividuation could lead you
to work harder in an exercise class, or pitch in at a homeless
shelter, or help build a house. People who forget their sense of self
and work together to save a life or search for a missing child show
deindividuation is a neutral force of the human will. When 4Chan or
Digg or Reddit assemble into an anonymous collective to exact revenge
it often ends in actual justice. Once deindividuation kicks in, the
cues from the environment shape the resulting behavior. The norms of
the mob, good or evil, replace the norms of everyday life."
Yours sincerely,
Anirudh Bhati
00 91 9328712208
Skype: anirudhsbh
Hi, I am working temporarly with Aphaia from Kanzai and did not hear
from her the last days.
Dear Aphaia and all Wikim/pedians in Japan, I hope that everything is
ok with you, your family and friends!
I am an atheist, but if there is a god, I hope he or she will
protected you all from the earthquakes, the Tsunami and the immenent
nuclear-danger!
Take care!
Juliana