I think the decision on the scope probably depends on whether people who speak that language also speak other languages. For example, many people in the Netherlands and Norway speak English very well. There may be less need to provide some topics in their own language if that topic is well-covered in Wikipedia so perhaps the focus can be more on local content. But if the speakers of that language are less likely to speak a "larger" language, then the need to provide a wide variety of non-local topics may be more important than providing information on local topics.
I don't know if any Wikipedias consciously make a decision to focus (or not) on local content, but even if they do, I presume they are hostage to the interests of their contributors (unless they actively remove the material). That is, you get the topics that the contributors are willing and able to write, no matter what the intention might be. Australians are often surprised to find content about the Australian Outback appears in German Wikipedia and not in English Wikipedia but if you travel in the Outback, the reason is obvious -- the outback is full of German tourists in campervans and this is reflected in their Wikipedia contributions. Kerry -----Original Message----- From: Wiki-research-l [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ziko van Dijk Sent: Thursday, 13 December 2018 8:02 PM To: Research into Wikimedia content and communities <[email protected]> Subject: [Wiki-research-l] Readers of Wikipedia Hello, I just watched the showcase of December 2018, thank you for the interesting contribution! It would be great it further research could have a look at questions such as language choice. With regard to have more insight in what readers want, I struggled in the past with two questions: Regionally important content: Should a Wikipedia language version concentrate on regional topics, or try to cover a large variety of topics? Heinz Kloss in the 1970s introduced the idea of "eigenbezogene Inhalte", content, that is closely related to a language and its region, like local history, culture and typical crafts such as fishing on the Faroe islands or farming in the Alps. What do the readers in Hungary want? That hu.WP concentrates on Hungarian topics, while they consult English wikipedia for specialized technical topics or other countries? Large or small articles: Some printed encyclopedias had relatively few, but large articles. Others segmented the content into many small articles. (Think of Encyclopedia Britannica: Macropedia and Micropedia.) What do Wikipedia readers want? Do they prefer to read about a larger topic in one long, well structured article? Or several short ones, linking to each other? I could imagine that a reader who is interested in information for work or school prefers long articles that provide an in-depth approach in order to became familiar with the overall topic (that is, what one would expect traditionally). And that "news" readers want to look up something quickly, in a short, simplyfing article. Kind regards Ziko _______________________________________________ Wiki-research-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l _______________________________________________ Wiki-research-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l
