Title: Wikimaps: dynamic maps of knowledge

Authors: Reto Kleeb; Peter A. Gloor; Keiichi Nemoto; Michael Henninger

Addresses: MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, 5 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, 02139, MA, USA. ' MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, 5 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, 02139, MA, USA. ' Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., 6-1 Minatomirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 220-8668, Japan. ' UAS Northwestern Switzerland, Institute of 4D Technologies, Steinackerstrasse 5, CH-5210 Windisch, Switzerland

Abstract: We introduce Wikimaps, a tool to create a dynamic map of knowledge from Wikipedia contents. Wikimaps visualise the evolution of links over time between articles in different subject areas. This visualisation allows users to learn about the context a subject is embedded in, and offers them the opportunity to explore related topics that might not have been obvious. Watching a Wikimap movie permits users to observe the evolution of a topic over time. We also introduce two static variants of Wikimaps that focus on particular aspects of Wikipedia: latest news and people pages. 'Who-works-with-whom-on-Wikipedia' (W5) links between two articles are constructed if the same editor has worked on both articles. W5 links are an excellent way to create maps of the most recent news. PeopleMaps only include links between Wikipedia pages about 'living people'. PeopleMaps in different-language Wikipedias illustrate the difference in emphasis on politics, entertainment, arts and sports in different cultures.

Keywords: scientific visualisation; intercultural comparison; knowledge mapping; Wikimaps; knowledge maps; Wikipedia content; culture; news pages; people pages.

DOI: 10.1504/IJODE.2012.047575

International Journal of Organisational Design and Engineering, 2012 Vol.2 No.2, pp.204 - 224

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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