Wikipedians Reach out to Academics. Hodson, R.
Wikipedians Reach out to Academics [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
London conference discusses efforts by the online encyclopaedia to enlist the help of scientists. [Excerpt] Wikipedia is among the most frequently visited websites in the world, and one of the most popular places to tap into the world's scientific and medical information. But scientists themselves are generally wary of it, because it can be edited by anyone, regardless of their level of expertise. At a meeting in London last week, the non-profit website's volunteer editors reached out to scientists to enlist their help and to bridge the gap between the online encyclopaedia and the research community. [\n] ” A lot of academics have the impression that because anyone can edit, that means it's a Wild West,” says Martin Poulter at the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries, UK, and an organizer of the meeting. ” But Wikipedia is a community of ultra-pedants who care about facts being right.” [\n] [...] [Cultural barrier] Poulter says that in many cases, Wikipedia content already is of high quality, although some dispute that. Because scientists are experts in their respective fields, their involvement could help to improve it. [\n] But by and large, scientists are not getting involved. The number of people editing Wikipedia is, in fact, falling, says Alex Bateman, a computational biologist at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) in Hinxton, UK. He hopes to make more scientists comfortable with the idea of editing Wikipedia pages in their field of expertise. ” Most articles grow really organically, sentence by sentence”, which is a very different experience from writing a scholarly paper, he says. [\n] [...] Although Wikipedia's science content would benefit from getting more expert contributors – the site maintains a list of specific articles requiring expert attention – Poulter also thinks that academia can benefit from buying into Wikipedia. ” Wikipedia is an opportunity to recapture some of the academic ethos that has been weakened by the commercial sector,” he says, pointing to the transparent process by which Wikipedia articles are created and edited. [\n] ” If you're working in the open, you release all your data, your drafts and everything, and you invite comments from the start, rather than only after a process which is hidden away from the public,” he says.”
@article{hodsonWikipediansReachOut2015,
  title = {Wikipedians Reach out to Academics},
  author = {Hodson, Richard},
  date = {2015-09},
  journaltitle = {Nature},
  issn = {1476-4687},
  doi = {10.1038/nature.2015.18313},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2015.18313},
  abstract = {London conference discusses efforts by the online encyclopaedia to enlist the help of scientists.

[Excerpt]

Wikipedia is among the most frequently visited websites in the world, and one of the most popular places to tap into the world's scientific and medical information. But scientists themselves are generally wary of it, because it can be edited by anyone, regardless of their level of expertise. At a meeting in London last week, the non-profit website's volunteer editors reached out to scientists to enlist their help and to bridge the gap between the online encyclopaedia and the research community.

[\textbackslash n] ” A lot of academics have the impression that because anyone can edit, that means it's a Wild West,” says Martin Poulter at the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries, UK, and an organizer of the meeting. ” But Wikipedia is a community of ultra-pedants who care about facts being right.”

[\textbackslash n] [...]

[Cultural barrier]

Poulter says that in many cases, Wikipedia content already is of high quality, although some dispute that. Because scientists are experts in their respective fields, their involvement could help to improve it.

[\textbackslash n] But by and large, scientists are not getting involved. The number of people editing Wikipedia is, in fact, falling, says Alex Bateman, a computational biologist at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) in Hinxton, UK. He hopes to make more scientists comfortable with the idea of editing Wikipedia pages in their field of expertise. ” Most articles grow really organically, sentence by sentence”, which is a very different experience from writing a scholarly paper, he says.

[\textbackslash n] [...]

Although Wikipedia's science content would benefit from getting more expert contributors -- the site maintains a list of specific articles requiring expert attention -- Poulter also thinks that academia can benefit from buying into Wikipedia. ” Wikipedia is an opportunity to recapture some of the academic ethos that has been weakened by the commercial sector,” he says, pointing to the transparent process by which Wikipedia articles are created and edited.

[\textbackslash n] ” If you're working in the open, you release all your data, your drafts and everything, and you invite comments from the start, rather than only after a process which is hidden away from the public,” he says.”},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-13757536,~to-add-doi-URL,bias-correction,crowd-sourcing,knowledge-freedom,research-funding-vs-public-outcome,science-society-interface,scientific-communication,technology-mediated-communication}
}

Downloads: 0