User:Peteforsyth/Wikidata

Purpose

Outline for a general intro to Wikidata for Wikipedians. This is for this event (and likely other presentations).

Video of this presentation

Presentation

1. What is "structured data"?
   1. Wikipedia is structured data: We're used to infoboxes, categories, etc. The ways articles link to one another in general is a kind of structure. The grammar used in natural language is structure, too.
   2. Wikipedia's structure is almost entirely designed to be useful to a human reader.
   3. Wikidata also aims to serve a human reader, but in addition, it is designed to serve computer programs (which may in turn serve a human reader). This might include dynamic websites, search engines, or graphics programs that present the information it contains in new and different ways.
2. Some specific examples of how Wikidata can be useful
   1. Helps connect different language Wikipedias, Wikisource, Commons, etc.
   2. Informs search engines like Google.
   3. A more sophisticated example like our News On Wiki maps (This map shows local newspapers in Washington, and links to Wikipedia articles about them where they exist; give it a minute or so to render) or Scholia.
   4. A way to "park" info that might go into Wikipedia, for a topic that doesn't meet Wikipedia's notability threshold (i.e., writing a full article that complies with Wikipedia policy is impossible).
3. Explore a few Wikidata items:
   1. A thorough one like Jane Stanford, so we can look at all the different properties that are there, and discuss why they are there.
   2. A less thorough one like Bethenia Owens-Adair, so we can look at how to add a property here and there to an existing item.
   3. A less thorough one like Max Binheim, so we can look at the limits of what it's possible to add for a less well documented subject.
   4. An item that doesn't exist yet -- we'll build it! Like Mary Thompson.