wikipedia as an academic reference: managing online information retrieval

Wikipedia as an Academic Reference: Managing Online Information Retrieval

Johnny Snyder Mesa State College

2009 Mountain Plains Management Conference

History of WikisFirst wiki developed by Ward

Cunningham in 1995

Wiki derived from the Hawaiian phrase

“awiwi, wikiwiki”which translates to quick or fast.

(Hawaiian Dictionary, 2007)


History of WikipediaLaunched on January 15, 2001

by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger

(Geekipedia, 2007)


Number of Articles

SourceNumber of Approved Articles

Number of Articles in Progress

Timeframe

Nupedia 24 74 2000-2003

Citizendium 110 11,800 9/2006 - present

Wikipedia for Schools 5500 2008/09

edition

Wikipedia Unknown(est. 10,000) 3,041,247 1/2001 -

presentEncyclopedia

Britannica (print)

500,000 ~1770 - present


Academic Interest in Wikipedia

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Growth of Academic Papers Concerning Wikipedia

JournalsConferences

Freq

uenc

y


Academic Interest in WikipediaArticle Degree Centrality (Korfiatis, Poulos

and Bokos, 2006)

Vandalism and Edit Wars (Brandes and Lerner, 2007)

Information Quality Metrics (Stvilia, Twidale, Gasser and Smith, 2005)

Article Quality, Halavais and Lackaff (2008)

Controversy Rank Models, (Vuong, Lim, Sun, Le, Lauw, and Chang, 2008)


Growth of Wikipedia

(Alexa, 2007; Alexa,2009)Currentl

y: oscillatin

g between 8 – 12%


How I Became Interested...


More References to Wikipedia...

User Usage

Efraim Turban, E-Commerce Textbook(Turban, et al., 2008)

Wikipedia referenced for problem assignments, definition of “online

intermediaries,” Wikipedia used as an e-commerce application case

Douglas Samuelson – OR/MS Today Article(Samuelson, 2008)

Definition of “Colony Collapse Disorder” for honey bee colonies

International Association for Computer Information Systems 2007 Call for Papers

(IACIS, 2007)Wikipedia definition for “globalization”

Paper appearing in IJKLO Vol. 3(Parker and Chao, 2007) Utilize Wikipedia as a teaching tool

Paper appearing in JISE Vol. 19(2)(White, Longenecker, McKell, and Harris,

2008)Wikipedia definition of “assessment”


Problems with WikipediaJohn

Seigenthaler - Essjay

Controversy -

(Tong, 2007)


Solution Attempts by WikipediaRanking of Articles

Protecting Articles

Addition of Reputable Sources

Accurate and Complete Articles

Article Rank Reader Experience

FA or FL Encyclopedic Information

A Fairly Complete

GA Useful to General Audience

B Not Complete for Research

C Useful to Casual Reader

Start Most Will Seek Further Information

Stub Dictionary Definition


Solution Attempts by OthersHarvesting and

Editing Wikipedia Information for Schools

http://schools-wikipedia.org/


My StudyCreated a Survey

in spring 2009

Administered it to:◦ Faculty◦ Students


Usage of Wikipedia

Aug-0

2Nov

-02Feb

-03May

-03Au

g-03Nov

-03Feb

-04May

-04Au

g-04Nov

-04Feb

-05May

-05Au

g-05Nov

-05Feb

-06May

-06Au

g-06Nov

-06Feb

-07May

-07Au

g-07Nov

-07Feb

-08May

-08Au

g-08

0

10000000

20000000

30000000

40000000

50000000

60000000

70000000

Number of Unique Visitors to Wikipedia per Month

(Compete, 2008)


Questions About Wikipedia Usage Usage statisticsViewpoint on Wikipedia usageAwareness of Wikipedia activityComparison between faculty and

student perspectives


Basic Faculty StatisticsDemographic Wikipedia Users

(n = 56)Wikipedia Non-Users

(n = 24)Age (in years) = 49.7 = 49.6

Non-controversial discipline 35.7% 29.2%

Controversial discipline 28.6% 33.3%

Discipline not reported 35.7% 37.5%

x x

Non-controversial discipline: Sciences

Controversial discipline: Humanities and Social Sciences

(Brandes and Lerner, 2007; Halavais and Lackaff, 2008)


Basic Faculty Statistics (2)Type of usage Yes No

for an academic paper 5 51

for other research 38 18

for independent learning (pleasure)

50 6

alternate types of usage: initial research on a topic general topic review external links to topic

323822

241834


Basic Faculty Statistics (3)Category N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.

Deviation Consensus

View_Gen_Ed 46 1 5 2.85 1.03 0.73

View_Major 49 1 5 2.47 1.26 0.63Aware_

Controversial 56 1 5 3.52 1.49 0.54Aware_

Vandalism 56 1 5 2.98 1.59 0.51Aware_Protected

_Pages 56 1 5 2.57 1.68 0.44Aware_Article_

Rank 56 1 5 2.07 1.37 0.59Aware_Article_

Revision_History 56 1 5 2.98 1.57 0.50Aware_Edited_

Anyone 55 1 5 4.02 1.47 0.56

1 = very negatively, not aware5 = very positively, very aware0 = no consensus, 1 = complete consensus


Consensus

n

i X

Xii d

XpXCns

12 1log1)(

(Tastle, Wierman, 2007)


Faculty Statistics by Discipline

View of Wikipedia in: Science Faculty Humanities

Faculty Statistics (t-test)

General Education Classes

3.12s = 0.86n = 17

2.17s = 0.24n = 12

t = 2.88p = 0.007

Major Classes2.68

s = 1.34n = 19

1.77s = 1.53n = 13

t = 2.11p = 0.043


Faculty Statistics by Discipline (2)

Awareness Category Science Faculty Humanities Faculty Statistics (t-test)

Aware of Controversial

Articles

3.35s = 2.24n = 20

3.06s = 1.73n = 16

t = 0.53p = 0.603

Aware of Vandalism2.75

s = 2.72n = 20

2.38s = 2.25n = 16

t = 0.71p = 0.481

Aware of Protected Pages

2.45s = 2.58n = 20

2.06s = 2.60n = 16

t = 0.72p = 0.477

Aware of Article Rank Feature

2.05s = 1.63n = 20

1.50s = 0.67n = 16

t = 1.57p = 0.126

Aware of Article Revision History

2.95s = 2.05n = 20

2.69s = 2.76n = 16

t = 0.50p = 0.620

Aware that Articles can be Edited by

Anyone

3.35s = 3.08n = 20

4.60s = 1.26n = 15

t = -2.56p = 0.016


Faculty Syllabus and Grading Concerns

Wikipedia Use Statement in Syllabus

Grade Reduced Because Wikipedia Used

Registered User of Wikipedia0

10

20

30

40

50

60

5

16

1

50

38

55

1 20

Wikipedia in the Syllabus, Grading, and Usage Domains

YesNoNo Answer


Faculty Gender DifferencesNo significant differences were

found in usage or awareness categories.


Student StatisticsCategory N Minimum Maximum Mean Std.

DeviationView_Gen_Ed 343 1 5 2.35 0.94View_Major 334 1 5 2.20 1.06

Other_Students_View 343 1 5 3.62 0.85

View_as_Source 351 1 5 3.21 1.08Aware_

Controversial 359 1 5 3.35 1.45Aware_

Vandalism 359 1 5 2.97 1.53Aware_Protected

_Pages 356 1 5 2.53 1.48Aware_Article

Rank 359 1 5 2.23 1.30Aware_Article_

Revision_History 357 1 5 2.69 1.41Aware_Edited_

Anyone 359 1 5 3.72 1.49

1 = very negatively, not aware5 = very positively, very aware0 = no consensus, 1 = complete consensus


Faculty to Student Comparison

Category Faculty Students Statistics (t-test)

School Year Usage

2.98s = 4.07n = 53

1.94s = 2.61n = 347

t = 2.48p = 0.01

Non-School Year Usage

3.02s = 4.37n = 53

1.94s = 4.32n = 352

t = 1.69p = 0.09

View in Gen Ed

2.85s = 1.03n = 46

2.35s = 0.94n = 343

t = 3.35p = 0.00

View in Major2.47

s = 1.26n = 49

2.20s = 1.06n = 334

t = 1.62p = 0.11

All Awareness Categories Equal Awareness


Student to Student Comparison

Category_1 Category_2 Statistics (t-test)

View in Gen Ed2.35

s = 0.94n = 343

View in Major2.20

s = 1.06n = 334

t = 1.94p = 0.05

View in Gen Ed2.35

s = 0.94n = 343

Other Students View3.62

s = 0.85n = 343

t = -18.56p = 0.00

View in Major2.20

s = 1.06n = 334

Other Students View3.62

s = 0.85n = 343

t = -19.25p = 0.00


ConclusionAcademic interest in Wikipedia is

growing

There is no consensus on usage

More work...correlation and association studies

Largest encyclopedia in history


Management of WikipediaManagement of Wikipedia:

◦i) Do not allow usage◦ii) Allow usage with other

corroborating source(s)

◦iii) Allow usage


Questions? Comments?

(Frauenfelder, 2007; Greenberg, 2007)


Questions? Comments?


Comments? Questions?

What would Ambrose Bierce, author of “The Devil’s Dictionary” think about Wikipedia or Wiktionary?


Viewpoint“I have not bought the latest set of

World Books. In fact, having been selected to be an author in the World Book, I now believe that Wikipedia is a perfectly fine source for your information, because I know what the quality control is for real encyclopedias.”

(Pausch, 2008, p. 42)


References Alexa (2007). Wikipedia. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from:

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=wikipedia.com Brandes, U. and Lerner, J. (2007). Visual analysis of controversy in user-

generated encyclopedias. Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium on Visual Analytics in Science and Technology.

Compete (2008c). Personal communication for Wikipedia usage data. Frauenfelder, M. (2007). Make Everything Better. Wired 15(8). p. 103 Greenberg, J. (2007). Make Everything Better (picture). Wired 15(8). p.

102 Geekipedia (2007). A supplement to Wired: Encyclopedia Smackdown. Halavais, A., and Lackaff, D. (2008). An analysis of topical coverage of

Wikipedia. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(2), p. 429-440.

Hawaiian Dictionary (2000). The Coconut Boyz Hawaiian Dictionary. Retrieved May 29, 2007 from: http://fm.hisurf.com/hawaiian/dictionary.taf?_function=list&_start=1

Howe, J. (2007). Breaking the News. Wired 15(8). p. 86-90.

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=wikipedia.com

http://fm.hisurf.com/hawaiian/dictionary.taf?_function=list&_start=1


References (2) IACIS (2007). IACIS 2007 Call for Papers. Retrieved August

20, 2007 from: http://www.iacis.org/web/call4pprs.htm Korfiatis, N., Poulos, M., and Bokos, G. (2006). Evaluating

authoritative sources using social networks: an insight from Wikipedia. Online Information Review 30(3), 252-262.

Parker, K. and Chao, J. (2007). Wiki as a teaching tool. Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects 3, p. 57-72.

Pausch, R. (2008). The Last Lecture. New York: Hyperion. Samuelson, D. (2008). An Ominous Buzz: Could honeybee

colony collapse disorder pose serious threat to civilization? Retrieved December 18, 2008 from: http://www.lionhrtpub.com/orms/orms-12-08/frccd.html

Stvilia, B., Twidale, M., Gasser, L. and Smith, L. (2005). Information quality discussions in Wikipedia, Proceedings of ICKM05, 1-20.

http://www.iacis.org/web/call4pprs.htm

http://www.lionhrtpub.com/orms/orms-12-08/frccd.html


References (3) Tastle, W. and Wierman, M. (2007). Consensus and

dissention: A measure of ordinal dispersion. International Journal of Approximate Reasoning 45(3), p. 531-545.

Tong, Z. (2007). Sir, please come with me for the Google search. Wired 15(10). p. 58

Turban, E., King, D., McKay, J., Marshall, P., Lee, J., and Viehland, D. (2008). Electronic Commerce 2008: A Managerial Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Vuong, B., Lim, E., Sun, A., Le, M., Lauw, H., and Chang, K. (2008). On ranking controversies in Wikipedia: Models and evaluation. Proceedings of WSDM 2008

White, B., Longenecker, H., McKell, L., and Harris, A. (2008). Assessment: Placing the emphasis on learning in information systems programs and classes. Journal of Information systems Education, 19(2), p. 165-167.

wikipedia as an academic reference: managing online information retrieval

Documents

wikipedia information

computer information

wikipediaranking of

academic reference

article quality

hawaiian dictionary

history of wikisfirst

controversy rank models