[Wikipedia-l] Commons Database

[GerardM]

Hoi,
The issue with data is not so much that it can be whatever, the point is
that it should not be whatever. When data is provided, like the size of the
Washington DC population, it is relevant to know the source and the date of
this information. This will explain what the number actually means. When
there are multiple sources for this information, it is not relevant what
information is "correct", what is of relevance is that information on
comparable subjects uses the same data source.

OmegaWiki, the best implementation of Wikidata, does not carry at the moment
information like number of inhabitants. Technically it would be possible to
do so however, the data structure needed has not been implemented yet. We do
however demonstrate other types of information. Have a look at the
Netherlands, it is marked as a "country" and consequently all kinds of
attributes associated with this class are available.

When you create a user profile, you can experiment with the representation
of the data. You will find that depending of the existence of translations
your experience will be in the language that you select. We do want to
support more languages and, we want to extend the data available.

As OmegaWiki is providing its data under a more liberal license then the
GFDL, it is possible for everyone to make use of its data.

Thanks,
      GerardM



http://www.omegawiki.org/index.php?title=DefinedMeaning:The%20Netherlands%20(5809)&dataset=uw



On Nov 29, 2007 1:24 PM, Matthew Brown <morven at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Nov 28, 2007 11:27 PM, Michal Rosa <michal.rosa at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Just a quick example,
> > according to en Wiki the population of Washington DC is 581,530,
> > German Wiki says it's 548.360, according to French Wiki it's 553 523
> > and Polish Wiki states it's 582 049.
>
> What you're actually seeing here is what happens when data is stated
> to a higher degree of accuracy than is warranted.  When a number which
> changes daily is quoted so exactly, of course different sources will
> differ.  I'm not sure where this practise of stating populations as if
> they could be determined down to the individual person came from.
>
> (I know this is not really relevant to your original point, but to the
> one that differing information between different Wikipedia editions
> may not mean any of them are wrong; they're just using different
> sources for an approximate figure impossible to pin down).
>
> -Matt
>
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