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Freedom versus Standardization: Structured Data Generation in a Peer Production Community

Published: 02 May 2017 Publication History

Abstract

In addition to encyclopedia articles and software, peer production communities produce structured data, e.g., Wikidata and OpenStreetMap's metadata. Structured data from peer production communities has become increasingly important due to its use by computational applications, such as CartoCSS, MapBox, and Wikipedia infoboxes. However, this structured data is usable by applications only if it follows standards. We did an interview study focused on OpenStreetMap's knowledge production processes to investigate how -- and how successfully -- this community creates and applies its data standards. Our study revealed a fundamental tension between the need to produce structured data in a standardized way and OpenStreetMap's tradition of contributor freedom. We extracted six themes that manifested this tension and three overarching concepts, correctness, community, and code, which help make sense of and synthesize the themes. We also offered suggestions for improving OpenStreetMap's knowledge production processes, including new data models, sociotechnical tools, and community practices (e.g. stronger leadership).

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  • (2024)Collaborating with Bots and Automation on OpenStreetMapACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/366532631:3(1-30)Online publication date: 17-May-2024
  • (2023)Assessing Mapper Conflict in OpenStreetMap Using the Delphi Survey MethodProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580758(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
  • (2021)Language-agnostic Topic Classification for WikipediaCompanion Proceedings of the Web Conference 202110.1145/3442442.3452347(594-601)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2021
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    cover image ACM Conferences
    CHI '17: Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    May 2017
    7138 pages
    ISBN:9781450346559
    DOI:10.1145/3025453
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    Published: 02 May 2017

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    Author Tags

    1. openstreetmap
    2. peer-production communities
    3. standardization
    4. structured data

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    • U.S. Dept. of Education
    • U.S. National Science Foundation

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    CHI '17 Paper Acceptance Rate 600 of 2,400 submissions, 25%;
    Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

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    Cited By

    View all
    • (2024)Collaborating with Bots and Automation on OpenStreetMapACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction10.1145/366532631:3(1-30)Online publication date: 17-May-2024
    • (2023)Assessing Mapper Conflict in OpenStreetMap Using the Delphi Survey MethodProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580758(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
    • (2021)Language-agnostic Topic Classification for WikipediaCompanion Proceedings of the Web Conference 202110.1145/3442442.3452347(594-601)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2021
    • (2019)Categories of control and visibility in mapping infrastructuresProceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGCAS Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies10.1145/3314344.3332494(174-183)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2019
    • (2018)Who Models the World?Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/32744102:CSCW(1-18)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2018
    • (2018)Bot Detection in Wikidata Using Behavioral and Other Informal CuesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/32743332:CSCW(1-18)Online publication date: 1-Nov-2018
    • (2018)Exploring the Relationship Between "Informal Standards" and Contributor Practice in OpenStreetMapProceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Open Collaboration10.1145/3233391.3233962(1-11)Online publication date: 22-Aug-2018
    • (2018)VizByWikiProceedings of the 2018 World Wide Web Conference10.1145/3178876.3186135(873-882)Online publication date: 10-Apr-2018
    • (2017)Interlinking Standardized OpenStreetMap Data and Citizen Science Data in the OpenData CloudAdvances in Human Factors and Systems Interaction10.1007/978-3-319-60366-7_9(85-96)Online publication date: 23-Jun-2017

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