On June 2, a webinar was held on automatic quality assessment of Wikipedia articles and information sources in different languages. Participants could move from the theoretical area of scientific research to concrete practice. It was a good opportunity to deepen knowledge in the field of information technology and understand how science combines with practical application.
Currently, Wikipedia has over 60 million articles in over 300 languages. Anyone can create and edit articles in this encyclopedia, so judging the quality of the information can be a challenge. In addition, the quality of information is a subjective concept and may depend on many factors, and above all on the knowledge and experience of the evaluator. Each language version of Wikipedia has its own quality criteria, which may include objectivity, completeness, style, readability, and other quality dimensions. Additionally, some information may be obsolete (out of date), especially in areas that are developing rapidly. There are also issues with intentionally introducing false information or destroying existing content.
The presence of information sources is one of the most important elements of Wikipedia articles and has a key impact on the quality of information. Wikipedia is based on the idea that any information added to an article should be backed up by reliable sources. Readers of this encyclopedia should be able to verify the information provided in the articles. However, the subjective nature of the concept of credibility and the dependence of the assessment on many factors (e.g. language version or topic) may create a problem for users editing Wikipedia in terms of selecting appropriate sources of information.
During the webinar, the possibilities of automatic quality assessment of Wikipedia articles and information sources using artificial intelligence and large data sets were presented. In addition, tools for assessing the quality of Wikipedia articles and the credibility of sources in various languages and topics were presented.
The event is organized by the Wikimedia Polska association, which supports and promotes Wikipedia and its sister projects (such as Wikidata, Wiktionary, Wikinews, Wikisource and others). More information about the association can be found on the website: wikimedia.pl