http://wikipedia-academy.de/2012/wiki/Main_Page

The free online Encyclopedia Wikipedia answers questions of millions of users every day. Wikipedia’s mere existence, growth, (social and technical) functioning and quality also raises an enormous number of research questions. The “Wikipedia Academy 2012: Research and Free Knowledge” provides a platform for the research community and the Wikipedia community to connect, present, discuss and advance research on Wikipedia in particular and on free knowledge in general.

The Wikipedia Academy 2012 is organized by Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. in collaboration with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society and Freie Universität Berlin. The conference will take place in Berlin, June 29 to July 1, 2012. The event will be open to all interested parties and features a variety of session formats, ranging from panel discussions and tracks with traditional paper presentations to break-out sessions, lightning talks, poster presentations and a science fair. We particularly encourage young doctoral and postdoctoral researcher to participate and to submit extended abstracts.

For research paper and poster sessions, we encourage the submission of extended abstracts addressing issues in the overall nexus of Wikipedia and free knowledge. Find our Call for Papers here.

Topics of interest

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