DEPARTMENT INFORMATION Bachelor Thesis The Striving for Credibilty in Different Language Versions of Wikipedia Written by Wolfgang Reinhold Hesse Study Programme: Library and Information Management First examiner: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Spree Second examiner: Prof. Dr. Olof Sundin Hamburg, 22 October 2016 Abstract! ii! ! Abstract(! The!present!paper!examines!differences!in!credibility!creation!between!the!English,!German,! Icelandic! and! Swedish! Wikipedia!language!versions.!An!analysis!of!policies!on!verifiability!of! content!was!conducted!to!gain!an!insight!into!the!language!communities’!theoretical!approach! to!credibility.!The!application!of!these!norms!was!evaluated!by!comparing!differences!of!usage! of!sources!and!maintenance!templates!in!a!30Earticle!sample!per!language.!Content!and!disE course!analysis!of!the!policy!and!article!talk!pages!explored!the!editor’s!concern!with!verifiabilE ity!in!the!different!language!editions.!The!study!revealed!an!overall!similar!approach!to!crediE bility! leading! to! a! predominant! use! of! academic! sources! with! slight! variances! between! the! editions.!While!the!German!Wikipedia!displays!a!more!practical!approach!in!its!policies,!the! Swedish!approach!is!characterised!by!an!emphasis!on!a!source!hierarchy.!A!source!hierarchy!is! also!implied!in!the!English!policies!but!in!consideration!of!the!subject!context.!The!biggest!inE fluence!on!the!realisation!of!the!theoretical!approach!to!generate!credibility!is!the!size!of!a! community.!The!English!Wikipedia!is!both!the!biggest!and!the!most!active!community!in!conE trast!to!the!Icelandic!Wikipedia,!which!is!the!smallest!and!least!active.!Yet,!size!is!not!the!only! factor.!The!German!and!Swedish!Wikipedias!apply!its!verifiability!norms!just!slightly!behind!the! extent!of!the!English!language!edition!to!present!knowledge!in!academic!Wikipedia!articles!as! credible!as!possible.! Keywords:! Wikipedia,! credibility,! verifiability,! language! community,! userEgenerated! content,! knowledge!representation! Kurzfassung! iii! ! Kurzfassung! Die!vorliegende!Arbeit!befasst!sich!mit!den!Unterschieden!der!Erzeugung!von!Glaubwürdigkeit! in!der!englischen,!deutschen,!isländischen!und!schwedischen!Wikipedia.!Um!einen!Einblick!in! die!theoretische!Herangehensweise!an!die!Glaubwürdigkeit!der!Sprachgemeinschaften!zu!beE kommen,! wurde! eine! Analyse! ausgewählter! Richtlinien! bezüglich! der! Nachprüfbarkeit! von! Informationen! auf! Wikipedia! durchgeführt.! Die! tatsächliche! Anwendung! dieser! Richtlinien! wurde!durch!einen!Vergleich!der!Unterschiede!in!der!Verwendung!von!Literatur!und!InstandE haltungstemplates!in!einer!30!Wikipediaartikel!je!Sprache!umfassenden!Stichprobe!evaluiert.! Durch! InhaltsE! und! Diskursanalysen! der! Diskussionsseiten! der! Richtlinien! und! Artikel! wurde! untersucht,!mit!welcher!Intensität!die!Wikipediaeditoren!der!unterschiedlichen!SprachversioE nen!eine!Nachprüfbarkeit!der!Information!erreichen!wollen.!Die!Studie!kommt!zu!dem!ErgebE nis,!dass!sich!die!Sprachversionen,!trotz!stellenweiser!Unterschiede,!in!ihrer!HerangehensweiE se!ähneln.!Die!deutsche!Wikipedia!ist!bereits!in!ihren!Richtlinien!von!einer!praxisnahen!HeranE gehensweise!geprägt,!während!die!schwedische!eine!Quellenhierarchie!hervorhebt.!Eine!solE che!Hierarchie!ist!auch!in!der!englischen!Wikipedia!enthalten,!die!jedoch!von!dem!Kontext!des! Themengebietes!abhängt.!Der!stärkste!Einfluss!auf!die!Herangehensweise,!Glaubwürdigkeit!zu! erzeugen,!ergibt!sich!aus!der!Größe!der!Community.!So!umfasst!die!englische!Wikipedia!soE wohl!die!größte!als!auch!die!aktivste!Community!im!Gegensatz!zu!der!isländischen!Wikipedia,! die!die!kleinste!und!am!wenigsten!aktive!Community!ist.!Dennoch!ist!die!Größe!der!CommuniE ty!nicht!der!einzige!Faktor!in!Bezug!auf!Glaubwürdigkeit.!Die!deutsche!und!die!schwedische! Wikipedia!wenden!ihre!Richtlinien!in!ähnlichem!Ausmaß!an!wie!die!englische!Wikipedia,!um! Wissen! in! Wikipediaartikeln! mit! akademischen! Themen! möglichst! glaubwürdig! zu! präsentieE ren.! Schlagwörter:2Wikipedia,!Glaubwürdigkeit,!Verifizierung,!Sprachgemeinschaft,!nutzergenerierE ter!Inhalt,!Wissenspräsentation! Contents! iv! ! Contents! Abstract2.................................................................................................................................2ii! Kurzfassung2..........................................................................................................................2iii! Contents2...............................................................................................................................2iv! List2of2Figures2........................................................................................................................2vi! List2of2Tables2.........................................................................................................................2vi! 1! Introduction2.....................................................................................................................21! 2! Wikipedia2and2Language2Communities2.............................................................................23! 3! Literature2Review2.............................................................................................................27! 3.1! Cultural!Influence!on!Content!and!Editing!Behaviour!.........................................................!7! 3.2! Credibility!.............................................................................................................................!9! 4! Methodology2.................................................................................................................212! 5! The2Wikipedias’2Credibility2Creation2in2Theory2...............................................................214! 5.1! Policies!and!Guidelines!......................................................................................................!14! 5.1.1! Verifiability!......................................................................................................................!15! 5.1.2! Talk!Page!Discussions!Regarding!Verifiability!.................................................................!16! 5.1.3! Identifying!Reliable!Sources!............................................................................................!21! 5.1.4! Talk!Page!Discussion!Regarding!Identifying/sources!.......................................................!23! 5.2! Template!Messages!...........................................................................................................!25! 6! The2Wikipedias’2Credibility2Creation2in2Practice2.............................................................229! 6.1! Article!Pages:!Transfer!of!Expertise!...................................................................................!29! 6.2! Templates:!Urging!Policy!Compliance!................................................................................!35! 6.3! Talk!pages:!Arguing!Referencing!Issues!.............................................................................!37! 6.4! User!Pages:!Authorship!in!Wikipedia!.................................................................................!43! 6.5! The!Comparison!Group!......................................................................................................!46! 7! Conclusion2.....................................................................................................................252! 7.1! Discussion!..........................................................................................................................!52! 7.2! Restrictions!and!Future!Work!............................................................................................!54! Literature2.............................................................................................................................256! Sources2................................................................................................................................259! Contents! v! ! Appendix2A:2Sample2of2Old2Norse2Studies2Articles2..................................................................2a! English!Articles!..............................................................................................................................!a! German!Articles!............................................................................................................................!b! Icelandic!Articles!...........................................................................................................................!c! Swedish!Articles!............................................................................................................................!d! Appendix2B:2Comparison2Test2Group2......................................................................................2f! English!Articles!...............................................................................................................................!f! German!Articles!............................................................................................................................!g! Icelandic!Articles!...........................................................................................................................!h! Swedish!Articles!.............................................................................................................................!i! Appendix2C:2Comparison2Group2.............................................................................................2k! English!Articles!..............................................................................................................................!k!