Call for Papers: Wikipedia Academy 2012 – Research and Free Knowledge

Earlier this week, Wikimedia Germany announced the Call for Papers for the Wikipedia Academy 2012 on “Research and Free Knowledge” (or Open Knowledge, for that matter), scheduled for June 29 – July 1, that I help organize. The blog post was in German. Please find an English version below the fold.

In cooperation with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and the Freien Universität Berlin, Wikimedia Deutschland is organizing the “Wikipedia Academy 2012: Research and Free Knowledge”, to take place from June 29 – July 1 in Berlin.

As mentioned previously, we are shifting the focus of the Wikipedia Academy 2012 more clearly towards “Research and Science related to, on and with Wikipedia and Free Knowledge”. The event is expected to establish contacts between Wikipedia researchers, to facilitate exchange and to provide new opportunities for collaboration and interaction.

Together with the Organizing Committee, we laid the foundation for it late last year and identified the topics, potential partners, aims and the target audience.

Today, the Call for Papers goes out, and everyone working on the topics mentioned below. The call has consciously been issued in English, as it is directed at the international Wikipedia research community. Conference language will be English, but submissions in German may be accepted in exceptional cases. The focus is on the following topics:

Wikipedia Analytics

• Wikis and Wikipedia as a research tool
• Analyzing Wikipedia as a source of “Big Data”
• Assessing and measuring the quality of Wikipedia articles

Wikipedia Global

• Relations and Differences between different Wikipedia language versions
• Differences between and critique of free/open knowledge ideologies
• Regional studies of Wikipedia and free knowledge with global lessons

Sharing Cultures and Practices

• Sharing culture(s) in Wikipedia and other projects of commons-based peer production
• Incentives, innovation and community dynamics in open collaborative peer production
• Wiki theory and wiki practices

Research on Users of and Contributors to Wikipedia

• Diversity among users of and contributors to Wikipedia
• Influencing participation by adapting user interfaces in open collaborative settings
• Using information visualization as information instrument to users and contributors

Economic and Regulatory Aspects of Free Knowledge

• Economic, regulatory and societal implications of (increased) access to free knowledge
• Different Modes of Governance: Emergence of Order and Coordination in Wikipedia
• The role of licensing decisions for Wikipedia and other collaborative forms of knowledge production

The Academy shall be open for everyone interested in Wikipedia and Free Knowledge. We especially encourage PhD candidates and other Early-Stage Researchers to participate in the call by submitting a paper.

There will be different session formats: panel discussions, traditional paper sessions, Lightning Talks, poster presentations and a Science Fair, the planning of which shall be coordinated with the development of the program.

The Call for Papers will end on March 31 (Berlin time, i.e. UTC+1). Then, submissions will be reviewed by the “Academic Program Committee” whose composition is not final yet – we gladly accept suggestions for potential candidates working in the research areas listed above.

Submissions from the Wikimedia Community are welcome, and so is help with spreading the word about this call in your social networks.

More detailed information can be found in the wiki dedicated to the event. The organization on the part of Wikimedia Germany shall be headed by Nicole Ebber, Angelika Adam and Denis Barthel who can be reached via academy@wikimedia.de.

The Wikipedia Academy is supported by the following institutions: