One of the main benefits of using Wikidata is having a centalised hub of linked data that can link to and leverage other complementary datasets, furthering direct and indirect areas of research. You can also add your own read/write applications to work on top of Wikidata. It is the most cost-effective way of sharing your […]
Read more "Practical – the Mix ‘n’ Match tool"This will run through how to create a SPARQL query from scratch. SPARQL is a programming language for querying linked data stored on the web. It is essentially a set of commands that allow you to find exactly the data you want. Watch – an Intro to SPARQL queries by Dr. Chris Langley, Newman University. […]
Read more "SPARQL Query Basics"Wikipedia has a problem with systemic bias. A 2011 survey suggests that on English Wikipedia around 90% of editors are male, and are typically formally educated, in white-collar jobs (or students) and living in the Global North. if there is a typical Wikipedia editor, he has a college degree, is 30- years-old, is computer savvy […]
Read more "Why you should edit Wikipedia"The internet’s favourite website for information The world’s biggest encyclopedia turned 24 on the 15th of January 2025. English Wikipedia has 6.97m articles (full list of all 314 language Wikipedias) 500 million visitors per month 1.5 billion monthly unique devices per month. 18 billion page views per month. More reliable than you think Vandalism removed […]
Read more "Wikipedia at 24"FAQ What is the difference between Wikidata and DBpedia? How do you find which properties to use on Wikidata? You can go to a high profile example to see the properties used on their item page. e.g. RMS Titanic if you are interested in properties for ships. Alternatively, you can use the PropBrowse tool and […]
Read more "FAQ and Further Reading"NB: We have documented our project work on Scotland’s accused witches on Wikidata. Design Informatics MA/MFA students worked on a project to import the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft database into Wikidata. This fabulous resource began life in the 1990s before being realised in 2001-2003. It had as its aim to collect, collate and record all […]
Read more "Real world datasets – the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft"Mass editing demo The occupations recorded of the accused witches. We’ve created some SPARQL queries recently which demonstrate the information Wikidata possesses about alumni from the University of Edinburgh. Map of University of Edinburgh alumni by place of birth. Timeline of University of Edinburgh alumni by date of birth. It is very easy to […]
Read more "Practical – Personalising a SPARQL query and mass edits"Creating Listeria lists is a great way of finding out what information Wikidata possesses and, by extension, what Wikipedia may be missing. e.g. WikiProject Women in Red use Wikidata red lists to ascertain where to focus their editing efforts when creating new pages about notable women. MySociety use them to identify politicians missing from Wikidata […]
Read more "Practical – Let’s get nautical"Listeria is a very powerful tool that lets you create dynamic bespoke lists pulling from Wikidata which you can read/write to from Wikipedia. For it to work, you need to have a Wikipedia userpage in the first instance. Part 1 – Creating a userpage on Wikipedia. Step 1: Go to Wikipedia. Step 2: Login with […]
Read more "Practical – Creating Wikidata lists for Women in Medicine"Scotland has just been voted the most beautiful country in the world in a Rough Guide readers’ poll. The world’s largest photo competition, Wiki Loves Monuments, takes place for the whole of September. Share your high quality pics of listed buildings and monuments to Wikimedia Commons and help preserve our cultural heritage online. Entry is […]
Read more "Practical – adding images to Wikidata"