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Navigating change: an exploration of socio-epistemic process of extending Wikidata ontology with new properties

Marcin Roszkowski (Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland)

Journal of Documentation

ISSN: 0022-0418

Article publication date: 13 May 2024

Issue publication date: 25 September 2024

47

Abstract

Purpose

The paper addresses the issue of change in Wikidata ontology by exposing the role of the socio-epistemic processes that take place inside the infrastructure. The subject of the study was the process of extending the Wikidata ontology with a new property as an example of the interplay between the social and technical components of the Wikidata infrastructure.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, an interpretative approach to the evolution of the Wikidata ontology was used. The interpretation framework was a process-centric approach to changes in the Wikidata ontology. The extension of the Wikidata ontology with a new property was considered a socio-epistemic process where multiple agents interact for epistemic purposes. The decomposition of this process into three stages (initiation, knowledge work and closure) allowed us to reveal the role of the institutional structure of Wikidata in the evolution of its ontology.

Findings

This study has shown that the modification of the Wikidata ontology is an institutionalized process where community-accepted regulations and practices must be applied. These regulations come from the institutional structure of the Wikidata community, which sets the normative patterns for both the process and social roles and responsibilities of the involved agents.

Originality/value

The results of this study enhance our understanding of the evolution of the collaboratively developed Wikidata ontology by exposing the role of socio-epistemic processes, division of labor and normative patterns.

Keywords

Citation

Roszkowski, M. (2024), "Navigating change: an exploration of socio-epistemic process of extending Wikidata ontology with new properties", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 80 No. 6, pp. 1291-1312. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2024-0008

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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