A free and open knowledge base. What is Wikidata?Wikidata is one of the projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation which is a non-profit and charitable organisation.It is a free and open knowledge base that turns information into structured and machine-readable data.Wikidata is:a repository of the world's knowledge a database that anyone can read and editmultilingual free and open source softwareall data is CC-0 licenced meaning it can be used by anyoneWhy should you use Wikidata?The possibilities are endless!The power of the linked data in Wikidata is how it can be consumed, queried and visualised in a variety of ways; whether it’s Voltaire’s works, the collections of the National Library of Wales, an analysis of MPs’ occupations or the over 3 million linked citations visualised using the Scholia tool. See Use Cases for more information and examples, such as the Map of Accused Witches and Mapping the Scottish Reformation project.An introduction to Wikidata:You can read more about Wikidata in this Introduction page.Here is a short 3 minute video on Wikidata by Jason Evans at the National Library of Wales. Cookies on the University of Edinburgh Website Your consent is needed for content delivered by non-University companies. Viewing this content will result in cookies being set on your device and will result in some information about your visit being saved. By accepting this you agree for this information to be shared with these non-University companies. Accept and view Wikidata Tours Wikidata Tours are designed for new users and are a great way to learn more about Wikidata. They show you how Wikidata works and how you can add data.There are currently tours for Wikidata basics, such as editing items, and for Wikidata activities.Further resourcesThe main help portal on Wikidata.The community portal where you can find out more about rules and community processes. Excellent 15 minute TedX talk introducing Wikidata by Dr. Martin Poulter: The global knowledge base: open data about everything. © Ewan McAndrew and Hannah Rothmann, University of Edinburgh, 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, unless otherwise indicated. This article was published on 2024-10-08