Importance of Wikipedia
The following posts have been published on the UK Web Focus on areas relating to use of Wikipedia.
Summary: In four posts published between July 2010 and September 2011 I have suggested that contributions to Wikipedia based on significant development and research work can help to maximise awareness of the work. I have provided examples of such benefits anddescribed how Wikipedia metrics can help to provide evidence of the value of providing content.
- Microattributions, Wikipedia and Dissemination, 9 September 2011:
Summarises the reasons behind the creation of a Wikipedia article on Microattributions.
- How Well-Read Are Technical Wikipedia Articles?, 8 July 2010:
Provides usage statistics for various technical articles on Wikipedia such as Linked Data (32,378 views in the 90 days prior to 22 Aug 21012), HTML (483,039 views in the 90 days prior to 22 Aug 21012) and XML (423,353 views in the 90 days prior to 22 Aug 21012).
- Having An Impact Through Wikipedia, 2 July 2010:
Review of how a Wikipedia article I had created had been reused in a blog post (which, it seems, no longer exists) and suggested that such reuse should be welcomed.
- How Can We Assess the Impact and ROI of Contributions to Wikipedia?, 27 September 2010
Blog post describing Andy Powell’s updating of a Wikipedia entry on HTTP 303 and suggesting that the short time it took to create the update may provide a significant ROI if the article is widely read and readers make use of the information provided. Note that there have been 20,669 views of the article in the 90 days prior to 22 August 2012.