Comparing OpenStreetMap and Wikipedia Edit Patterns During Major Events
Date
2016-04-22
Authors
Esworthy, Gary
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Abstract
During and in the aftermath of major natural disasters and other major events, data is rapidly contributed to online sources such as Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap. For Wikipedia, text, images, and sources are added to the event’s page to. On OpenStreetMap, users attempt to update maps local to the area affected by the event by adding and updating roads, buildings, and other geospatial data. In both cases, users contribute data for public consumption. This thesis examines patterns of editing during and after such events, such as earthquakes and hurricanes, of both Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap. Using the Wikipedia Application Programming Interface and the various sources of OpenStreetMap history data, user contributions of these events will be processed to attempt to establish a pattern of edits. This data is analyzed in order to characterize and compare the patterns of activity in Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap and the results are compared with other events over time. The results indicate a positive correlation between Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap contribution patterns for events that had organized mapping campaigns through OpenStreetMap. The contribution patterns for events that did not have organized mapping campaigns show less correlation.
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Keywords
Openstreetmap, Wikipedia, Contribution patterns, VGI, Crowdsourcing