Will Kent presented on Wikidata and how the website works. He taught us how to enter information into the website and how to navigate the different tools. He explained how Wikidata is for us (the public) and how it makes complex data manageable. He also showed us SPARQL. As I mentioned in my critical creation, I never really thought about the backend side of a website like Wikidata. I never considered it to be someone’s full-time job. However, with the amount of data and information on a website like Wikidata, it is now obvious that they need a significant amount of employees. Will even said that they need more and appreciate when people from the public help add to Wikidata.
Will taking time out of his day to come and talk to us was very nice and helpful. Although he is a Wikidata expert, he “dumbed” down how it works so that we could all understand. Will has a unique perspective on Wikidata, since he works there so it was interesting to hear from him. I appreciated how he allowed us to ask questions and thoughtfully answered each one. I think Zoom is very beneficial when having guest speakers. While I do not love virtual classes, Zoom allows someone who is all the way in California to speak with us. Without the platform, this would not be possible.
Will’s talk with us allowed me to understand Wikidata and complete our related class assignments more easily. Although I still struggled to do the data visualization, Will’s introduction to it was very helpful. His talk was a great addition to our Wikidata unit.