Wikidata: A Free Collaborative Knowledgebase

Wikidata: A Free Collaborative Knowledgebase

October 2014 | Denny Vrandečić and Markus Krötzsch
Wikidata is a free, collaborative knowledgebase that serves as a common source of data for Wikipedia and other projects. It was introduced as a sister project to Wikipedia to manage factual information and enable new applications by centralizing data. Originally a text-based resource, Wikipedia has accumulated structured data, including numbers, dates, and relationships, making it a valuable resource across science, technology, and culture. However, its data is buried in 30 million articles across 287 languages, making it difficult to access directly. Wikidata aims to address this by creating a global, multilingual knowledgebase that allows users to edit and manage data. It supports open editing, community control, and the coexistence of conflicting data. It also provides mechanisms for organizing data and allows for the use of arbitrary properties on all objects. Wikidata is multilingual by design, with data not tied to a single language, and it allows for easy access through various formats like JSON, RDF, and XML. Wikidata's data is used in various applications, including Google's Knowledge Graph, Facebook's Open Graph, and Wolfram Alpha. It also supports secondary data, allowing conflicting data to coexist and providing references to primary sources. The data is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 license, making it freely available for reuse. Wikidata has grown significantly since its launch in 2012, becoming one of the most active Wikimedia projects. It has over 150–500 edits per minute and over 45 million labels. It allows for the integration of external identifiers and supports advanced analytics, including logical reasoning and statistical evaluations. Wikidata also provides tools for developers to access and integrate its data, enabling applications like data browsers, genealogy viewers, and mapping tools. Wikidata's development is driven by a community of contributors, with a focus on accuracy, usefulness, and informativeness. It is based on an open development process that invites contributions and allows for user-created add-ons. The community plays a crucial role in shaping Wikidata, ensuring its continued evolution and improvement. Wikidata has the potential to be a major resource for research and development of new applications, bringing us closer to a world that freely shares in the sum of all knowledge.Wikidata is a free, collaborative knowledgebase that serves as a common source of data for Wikipedia and other projects. It was introduced as a sister project to Wikipedia to manage factual information and enable new applications by centralizing data. Originally a text-based resource, Wikipedia has accumulated structured data, including numbers, dates, and relationships, making it a valuable resource across science, technology, and culture. However, its data is buried in 30 million articles across 287 languages, making it difficult to access directly. Wikidata aims to address this by creating a global, multilingual knowledgebase that allows users to edit and manage data. It supports open editing, community control, and the coexistence of conflicting data. It also provides mechanisms for organizing data and allows for the use of arbitrary properties on all objects. Wikidata is multilingual by design, with data not tied to a single language, and it allows for easy access through various formats like JSON, RDF, and XML. Wikidata's data is used in various applications, including Google's Knowledge Graph, Facebook's Open Graph, and Wolfram Alpha. It also supports secondary data, allowing conflicting data to coexist and providing references to primary sources. The data is licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 license, making it freely available for reuse. Wikidata has grown significantly since its launch in 2012, becoming one of the most active Wikimedia projects. It has over 150–500 edits per minute and over 45 million labels. It allows for the integration of external identifiers and supports advanced analytics, including logical reasoning and statistical evaluations. Wikidata also provides tools for developers to access and integrate its data, enabling applications like data browsers, genealogy viewers, and mapping tools. Wikidata's development is driven by a community of contributors, with a focus on accuracy, usefulness, and informativeness. It is based on an open development process that invites contributions and allows for user-created add-ons. The community plays a crucial role in shaping Wikidata, ensuring its continued evolution and improvement. Wikidata has the potential to be a major resource for research and development of new applications, bringing us closer to a world that freely shares in the sum of all knowledge.
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