I'll start with the simple question than give the longer context. Is there any way to know how many times an item or a claim appears in the results of a query to query.wikidata.org ? Are there any other ways to quantify query/application usage of specific wikidata content?
Background. The gene wiki people recently attended a conference on 'biocuration' (the construction and maintenance of biological databases) where we gave multiple wikidata-related presentations. The community there generally had a very positive reaction to what we have been doing but many were concerned about attribution. They wanted to know that when data was imported into wikidata from their resources (e.g. the Gene Ontology), that there was some way to ensure that the world knew where it came from so that the authors could get appropriate credit (which translates into grant money which translates into their jobs). We explained the reference model to them, which helped, but still they are concerned.
The most important consequence of moving data into wikidata is that it can get used - sometimes a lot! (e.g. when displayed on Wikipedia articles). If we could quantify usage for data providers, it would really help them make the argument to their funding sources that contributing to wikidata increases their impact. If we can get that across, it would help bring more people, more high quality data, and more funding into the wikidata fold.
thoughts? -Ben