This is my sandbox! I'm a helping to orient some new wiki-editors! ... And working on some categorizing too.

Wikipedia Categories Seminar

Overview

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This metadata research seminar is a part of the Information School at the University of Washington. Led by Katherine Thornton and Joseph Tennis, the class will examine the process of and discussions regarding the adoption of the category system in Wikipedia.

Course Description

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From the course syllabus:[1] This course is an opportunity to do applied research into the Wikipedia system. The research will be focused around the category system of Wikipedia, the organizational system designed to represent the types of content in Wikipedia.

Students will be introduced to the existing research related to the category system. Students will engage in research to identify problems with the system as it is currently implemented. Students will conduct interviews with stakeholders to propose potential ameliorations for identified problems.

Goals

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The seminar has three main goals:

  • Conduct a survey of Wikipedia editors and their experiences using the category system.
  • Conduct more in-depth interviews with experienced editors who have participated in the discussion and implementation of the category system.
  • Create a tool to address and ameliorate identified problems with the application of the category system.

Timeline

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The research will take place during winter quarter 2012, January 3-March 9. The survey will be available in the third week of January. Work on further projects will take place in the remainder of the quarter.

Survey

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This section will further discuss the survey once it has been created and released.

Projects

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This section will further discuss the project details as the quarter progresses.

Interviews

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Tool Development

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Contact

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If you are interested in participating, contact us!

References:

  1. ^ INFX 571 Categories of Wikipedia Syllabus