The document explores the concept of using Wikipedia as a controlled vocabulary for organizing and categorizing information across various domains. It discusses the advantages of Wikipedia's structure in facilitating consistent subject representation and enhancing search strategies. The author suggests that Wikipedia’s collaborative nature makes it a valuable tool for creating a universal indexing language that improves subject identification and disambiguation online.

1. Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia as controlled vocabulary

2. I’m about ‘Victorians’

3. BBC Topic Page I’m about ‘Victorians’ Outside the BBC BBC silo #1 BBC silo #3 BBC silo #2

4. BBC Topic Page I’m about ‘Victorians’ viktorianisch V 잊도 r 이안 Ελληνικά NY Times, flickr, wikipedia Outside the BBC BBC silo #1 BBC silo #3 BBC silo #2

5. An index language exists primarily to:

6. An index language exists primarily to: Allow an indexer to represent the subject matter of documents in a consistent way

7. An index language exists primarily to: Allow an indexer to represent the subject matter of documents in a consistent way Bring the vocabulary used by the searcher into coincidence with the vocabulary used by the indexer

8. An index language exists primarily to: Allow an indexer to represent the subject matter of documents in a consistent way Bring the vocabulary used by the searcher into coincidence with the vocabulary used by the indexer Provide means whereby a searcher can modulate the search strategy to attain comprehensive or selective results as user needs dictate

9. An index language exists primarily to: Allow an indexer to represent the subject matter of documents in a consistent way Bring the vocabulary used by the searcher into coincidence with the vocabulary used by the indexer Provide means whereby a searcher can modulate the search strategy to attain comprehensive or selective results as user needs dictate F.W. Lancaster Vocabulary control for information retrieval

10. Could Wikipedia be used as a universal language for identifying subjects?

11. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV

12. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins

14. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins We needed a system to categorise movie & TV reviews

15. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins So of course we built a categorisation system from scratch -- including its own controlled vocab

16. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins And when people saw the system, they always said: “Hey, that reminds me of Internet Movie Database…”

18. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins It struck me that the way Internet Movie Database is set up isn’t dissimilar to the structure of a thesaurus or a very flat taxonomy…

19. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins But its’s one where the emphasis is on “related to”, not broader/narrower, synonym, antonym, etc

20. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins From then, I couldn’t help but be drawn to websites where the structure is clearly:

21. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins From then, I couldn’t help but be drawn to websites where the structure is clearly: “ a single primary Concept per page -- and pages for related Concepts link to each other”

22. Story of Wikipedia-as-CV: personal origins Could those “one Concept per page” webpages be used as “terms” as in a controlled vocabulary?

23. Are some websites actually “ indexing languages” in disguise?

24. conText -- a Wikipedia-as-CV auto-categoriser prototype

26. conText -- a Wikipedia-as-CV auto-categoriser prototype: http://sells.welcomebackstage.com:5000/item/submit

28. Demo of conText -- a Wikipedia-as-CV auto-categoriser prototype

29. Demo of conText -- a Wikipedia-as-CV auto-categoriser prototype: Take text from audience!

30. Wikipedia is already being used across the Web as a form of subject identification & disambiguation, in a grassroots way:

31. Wikipedia is already being used across the Web as a form of subject identification & disambiguation, in a grassroots way: in the form of hyperlinks embedded by authors in blog posts, news articles, music reviews, etc everywhere!

32. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_who http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardis

33. These days, by convention, when you link to Wikipedia from your webpage, more than saying “go and have a look at this other page”, you are more likely giving a definition to a concept referred to in your content…

34. These days, by convention, when you link to Wikipedia from your webpage, more than saying “go and have a look at this other page”, you are more likely giving a definition to a concept referred to in your content… Also used in this way for specific domains are Internet Movie Database (for films & TV programmes), MySpace (for bands), Amazon (for books), etc

35. For general knowledge, though, Wikipedia is becoming the Web’s defacto controlled vocabulary

36. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heerlen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Gogh_Museum

37. An index language exists primarily to: Allow an indexer to represent the subject matter of documents in a consistent way Bring the vocabulary used by the searcher into coincidence with the vocabulary used by the indexer Provide means whereby a searcher can modulate the search strategy to attain comprehensive or selective results as user needs dictate F.W. Lancaster Vocabulary control for information retrieval

38. Wikipedia pages provide the best scope notes in the world

39. Wikipedia pages provide the best scope notes in the world Wikipedia-as-CV benefits from being developed through a social process, maintained and kept current by the Wikipedia community

40. Wikipedia pages provide the best scope notes in the world Wikipedia-as-CV benefits from being developed through a social process, maintained and kept current by the Wikipedia community Each concept represents a consensus view and its meaning can be understood simply by reading the associated Wikipedia page

41. Wikipedia pages provide the best scope notes in the world For each Concept, the document edit history, discussion around concept definition, & debate is important here…

43. An index language exists primarily to: Allow an indexer to represent the subject matter of documents in a consistent way Bring the vocabulary used by the searcher into coincidence with the vocabulary used by the indexer Provide means whereby a searcher can modulate the search strategy to attain comprehensive or selective results as user needs dictate F.W. Lancaster Vocabulary control for information retrieval

44. So, we can tag pretty accurately semi-automatically with globally unique subject identifiers using this approach… So what?

45. So, we can tag pretty accurately semi-automatically with globally unique subject identifiers using this approach… So what? Un-silo your content repository quickly and cheaply, by connecting it to the Web via Wikipedia

50. Now playing vs. the Web

53. Now playing vs. the Web Why not bring in BBC Archive materials to this service via Wikipedia-as-CV tagging and linked data bridge between Wikipedia & MusicBrainz?

56. By using Wikipedia-as-CV, you can get your repository onto this diagram quickly, for free

58. An index language exists primarily to: Allow an indexer to represent the subject matter of documents in a consistent way Bring the vocabulary used by the searcher into coincidence with the vocabulary used by the indexer Provide means whereby a searcher can modulate the search strategy to attain comprehensive or selective results as user needs dictate F.W. Lancaster Vocabulary control for information retrieval

59. A Web-scale, globally accessible index language accidentally exists:

60. A Web-scale, globally accessible index language accidentally exists: It encourages multiple indexers across the Web to represent the subject matter of any content in a consistent way

61. A Web-scale, globally accessible index language accidentally exists: It encourages multiple indexers across the Web to represent the subject matter of any content in a consistent way It brings the vocabulary used by info seekers into coincidence with the vocabulary used by indexers -- the searchers ARE indexers, and vice versa

62. A Web-scale, globally accessible index language accidentally exists: It encourages multiple indexers across the Web to represent the subject matter of any content in a consistent way It brings the vocabulary used by info seekers into coincidence with the vocabulary used by indexers -- the searchers ARE indexers, and vice versa It provides means whereby a searcher can modulate a search and/or browse strategy to attain comprehensive or selective results as user needs dictate

63. A Web-scale, globally accessible index language accidentally exists: It encourages multiple indexers across the Web to represent the subject matter of any content in a consistent way It brings the vocabulary used by info seekers into coincidence with the vocabulary used by indexers -- the searchers ARE indexers, and vice versa It provides means whereby a searcher can modulate a search and/or browse strategy to attain comprehensive or selective results as user needs dictate It adds Web-scale navigation & cross-reference possibilities

64. Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia as controlled vocabulary Wikipedia is a controlled vocabulary

65. Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia as controlled vocabulary Wikipedia is a controlled vocabulary

66. Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia as controlled vocabulary Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia is a controlled vocabulary

67. Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia as controlled vocabulary Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia is a controlled vocabulary Much thanks! Questions, comments, & constructive criticism?

68. Chris Sizemore Silver Oliver BBC Wikipedia as controlled vocabulary http://flickr.com/photos/deniscollette/1817034358/