The Culture of Wikis – A Dynamic Network Analysis Approach

Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 offers a diploma/master thesis

The Culture of Wikis –
A Dynamic Network Analysis Approach

Wikipedia is on of the most popular wikis on the Internet. It combines wiki technology with the claim to create a full blown encyclopaedia of human knowledge comparable to e.g. Encyclopaedia Britannica. In the moment there are about 260 active versions of Wikipedia in different languages, from the leading English Wikipedia with more than 2.5 million articles to the Romani Wikipedia with 471 articles. Most obvious, participation here depends on knowledge about the languages and cultures of the different projects. Our question is to determine how much impact culture and language have on the contribution structures.

Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 has created a WikiWatcher software for researching the contribution structures of wikis by dynamic network analysis. With the help of this software we can analyse and visualize the dynamics of huge article and author networks in wikis. In this thesis the different contribution structures of national Wikipedia projects shall be compared. A model shall be created to forecast the structural parameters of Wikipedia projects. The WikiWatcher software shall be extended for wiki comparison functions with regard to success measures like new authors rate, number of edits rate etc.

Applicants should have interests in dynamic social network analysis, graph theory and visualization. On the practical side, they should have experiences in databases, Web 2.0 technologies, XML, and Java.

Lehrstuhl Informatik 5 offers an inspiring working environment with high-end hardware and software. Applicants should be open-minded to cooperate with international students and research institutes.

For further information or submission of your application please contact:

Dr. Ralf Klamma
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5
klamma[at]dbis.rwth-aachen.de

Zinayida Petrushyna, MSc.
Lehrstuhl Informatik 5
zina[at]dbis.rwth-aachen.de