Contents

Overview of Wikidata

• What is Wikidata
• Wikidata basics
• Principles and facts
• Misconceptions of Wikidata

Getting Started and setting editing tools

Hands-on-Demo

• Performing minor edits
• Performing major edits

• Joining Wikidata
• Creating account on Wikidata
• Setting editing tools for Wikidata

An Overview

Wikidata basics, it principles, and misconceptions

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Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, the participant will be able to:

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1. Identify Wikidata.
2. Understand the principles/ facts/misconceptions of Wikidata.
3. Learn how to perform minor and major edits on Wikidata.
4. Learn how to contribute to Wikidata as part of the AWA Digitalize Youth Project 2025

What is Wikidata

• Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines.

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• Wikidata acts as central storage for the structured data of its Wikimedia sister projects including Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wiktionary, Wikisource, and others.

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• Wikidata also provides support to many other sites and services beyond just Wikimedia projects! The content of Wikidata is available under a free license, exported using standard formats, and can be interlinked to other open data sets on the linked data web.

Wikidata Basics

1. Structured Data:

• Wikidata stores information in a structured format, which means data is organized into entities and properties.

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• Entities can be things like people, places, concepts, or abstract topics, while properties describe specific aspects or attributes of these entities.

Wikidata Basics

2. Statements:

• Statements are the basic units of information in Wikidata. A statement consists of an item, a property, and a value. For instance, for the item representing Albert Einstein, a statement could be "Date of Birth: 14 March 1879."

Wikidata Basics

3. Items and Properties:

• Items: Each entity in Wikidata is called an "item." Items can represent anything, including physical objects, abstract concepts, events, and more.
• Properties: Properties define the characteristics of items. For example, if an item represents a person, properties could include date of birth, occupation, nationality, etc.

Wikidata Basics

4. Identifiers and References:

• Identifiers: Wikidata uses unique identifiers (like Q42 for Douglas Adams) to distinguish items, ensuring data consistency across various languages and projects.
• References: Statements can have references, providing sources or citations for the data, ensuring accuracy and reliability.
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Wikidata Basics

5. Multilingual:

• Wikidata is multilingual, allowing information to be stored in multiple languages. Each item can have labels, descriptions, and aliases in various languages to facilitate global accessibility.

Wikidata Basics

6. Integration with Wikimedia Projects:

• Wikidata integrates with Wikimedia projects like Wikipedia, Commons, and others. It provides data that can be used to enrich articles and other content across these platforms.

Wikidata Basics

7. SPARQL Query Service:

• Wikidata offers a powerful query service called SPARQL, allowing users to query the data and retrieve specific information based on complex criteria.

Wikidata Principles and Facts

1. Collaborative and Community-Driven:

Wikidata relies on a global community of volunteers who contribute, edit, and curate data. This collaborative effort ensures a diverse and comprehensive representation of knowledge.

• Neutral Point of View:

Wikidata aims to maintain a neutral perspective, presenting information without bias or opinion. This neutrality aligns with Wikimedia's broader principles.

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Wikidata Principles and Facts

3. Verifiability and Citations:

Information added to Wikidata should be verifiable and preferably supported by reputable sources. Statements can be referenced, allowing users to trace the origin of the data.

4. Data Reusability:

Wikidata data is structured and can be easily reused by other projects, applications, and researchers. This reusability enhances the dissemination and impact of the knowledge stored on the platform.

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Misconception of Wikidata

What Wikidata is not…

Misconceptions of Wikidata

Wikidata is Wikipedia:

While both Wikidata and Wikipedia are Wikimedia projects, they serve different purposes. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, providing articles written by humans, whereas Wikidata is a structured data repository, providing data that can be used by various applications and projects, including Wikipedia.

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Wikidata is only for certain types of data:

Wikidata is not limited to specific types of data. It covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to, geography, people, organizations, art, science, and more. Almost any type of structured data can be added to Wikidata.

Misconceptions of Wikidata

Wikidata is only for Wikimedia projects:

While Wikimedia projects like Wikipedia use Wikidata extensively, the data stored on Wikidata is freely accessible and can be used by anyone, not just Wikimedia projects. Many external projects and organizations use Wikidata data for various purposes.

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Wikidata is a finished project:

Wikidata is constantly evolving. New data is added, existing data is improved, and the community is actively engaged in its development. It is not a static project but a dynamic and growing platform.

Misconceptions of Wikidata

Wikidata is unreliable:

While it's true that anyone can edit Wikidata, the platform has various mechanisms to ensure data quality. There are community-driven policies and guidelines, bots that help with data validation, and regular maintenance activities that contribute to the overall reliability of the data.

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Wikidata compromises privacy:

Wikidata is designed to respect privacy and data protection laws. Personal information about living individuals is generally not allowed unless it is publicly available and complies with privacy policies.

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Wikidata Interface

Main page of Wikidata

Create account on Wikipedia

• Span: July - September 2023
• Achievements: Awareness, digitization, and visibility of GLAM collections online.

Wikidata Preferences

Learning to edit your Wikidata preferences

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Customizing your Wikidata Preferences

User Preferences:

• User Profile
• Appearance
• Editing
• Recent Changes
• Watchlist
• Search
• Banner
• Notifications
• Gadgets
• Beta features

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Wikidata Preferences

User Preferences:

• User Profile: Allows you modify information displayed on your user page, such as your user name and contact information and allows you to change your Wikipedia account's password.
• Appearance: Allows you change the visual theme (skin) of Wikipedia. Options typically include Vector, Monobook, and other user-created skins, Adjust time zone and date format preferences and Fine-tune settings related to how content is displayed, such as thumbnail sizes and how hidden categories are shown.
• Editing: Allows you customize various aspects of the editing environment, such as enabling the editing toolbar and enabling or disabling syntax highlighting and allows you choose between the visual editor and the classic editing window (wikitext editor).
• Recent Changes: Allows you customise the number of edits to show in recent changes, watchlist, etc and days to show in recent changes, etc.

User Preferences:

• Gadgets: Enable or disable user interface enhancements and tools (gadgets) that enhance your Wikipedia, Wikidata and Meta-Wiki experience. Some gadgets provide features like citation tools, HotCat, enhanced search, and more.
• Search: Allows you customize number of search results to show on each page
• Banner: Allows you customize whether you want to see the display announcements of interest to Wikimedia communities and users.
• Beta features: Opt-in to experimental features that are being tested on Wikipedia, Wikidata and Meta-Wiki. These features are not yet available to all users but can provide insights into potential future changes.
• Notifications: Allows you customize how you receive notifications for various events on Wikipedia, such as mentions, page edits, and discussions.

Questions?

Fire away!�5 minutes ⏰

Ice Breaker session

Fire away!�5 minutes ⏰

Editing Wikidata

Joining Wikidata, Creating account and Setting editing tools for Wikidata

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Joining Wikidata

• Create a Wikimedia Account
• Familiarise Yourself with Wikidata
• Start Editing
• Use the Wikidata Sandbox
• Learn Wikidata Query Service
• Join the Community
• Contribute Multilingual Content
• Be Respectful and Collaborative
• Follow Policies and Guidelines
• Keep Learning

URL/Link to relevant site

Joining Wikidata

1. Go to Wikidata's Main Page:
2. Open your web browser and go to Wikidata's main page: https://www.wikidata.org
3. Click on "Create Account"
4. Choose a Username and Password
5. Enter and Confirm Your Password
6. Provide Your Email Address (Optional):
7. Solve the CAPTCHA:
8. Complete the Process:
9. After filling out the necessary information and solving the CAPTCHA, click on the "Create your account" button to complete the account creation process.
10. Verify Your Email (If Provided)

Creating a Wikidata Account tutorial

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Setting editing tools for Wikidata

• Editing Wikidata can be done directly on the Wikidata website, but there are also several editing tools and software applications that can enhance your editing experience.
• 1. Wikidata Website: The simplest way to edit Wikidata is by using its web interface. You can access it by going to https://www.wikidata.org and logging in with your Wikidata account. From there, you can search for items, add statements, edit descriptions, and more.
• 2. Wikidata Query Service: Wikidata Query Service allows you to query Wikidata's data using SPARQL, a powerful query language. While it doesn't edit data directly, it's a valuable tool for exploring Wikidata's data and understanding its structure.
• 3. QuickStatements: QuickStatements is a tool that allows you to add or edit Wikidata items in bulk using simple commands in a spreadsheet format. It's especially useful for making large-scale edits or additions efficiently.

Setting editing tools for Wikidata

• 4. OpenRefine: OpenRefine is a powerful data cleaning and transformation tool that can be used to edit Wikidata. It allows you to import data from Wikidata, clean it, and then upload the changes back to Wikidata.

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• 5. AutoWikiBrowser (AWB): AutoWikiBrowser is a semi-automated Wikipedia editing tool that also supports Wikidata editing. It's useful for making repetitive edits and performing quality control tasks.

Hands-on-Demo I

Let’s Practice on Wikidata!

Setting editing tools for Wikidata

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Adding new items to Wikidata

Create account on Wikipedia

• Span: July - September 2023
• Achievements: Awareness, digitization, and visibility of GLAM collections online.

Setting editing tools for Wikidata

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Using Wikidata Query Service

Create account on Wikipedia

• Span: July - September 2023
• Achievements: Awareness, digitization, and visibility of GLAM collections online.

Setting editing tools for Wikidata

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Using quick statements

Create account on Wikipedia

• Span: July - September 2023
• Achievements: Awareness, digitization, and visibility of GLAM collections online.

Setting editing tools for Wikidata

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Using OpenRefine

Create account on Wikipedia

• Span: July - September 2023
• Achievements: Awareness, digitization, and visibility of GLAM collections online.

Setting editing tools for Wikidata

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Using Auto Wiki-Browser

Create account on Wikipedia

• Span: July - September 2023
• Achievements: Awareness, digitization, and visibility of GLAM collections online.

Questions?

Fire away!�5 minutes ⏰