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  1. Home > Articles & Issues >
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  3. The Wikibase Ecosyst ...
Article

The Wikibase Ecosystem in DH and GLAM

David Lindemann ORCID (1), Gustavo Candela ORCID (2), Alessandro Marchetti ORCID (3), Camillo Carlo Pellizzari di San Girolamo ORCID (4), Ismael Olea ORCID (5), Christos Varvantakis ORCID (6), Tiago Assis ORCID (7), Vera Moitinho de Almeida ORCID (7), Ángel Obregón Sierra ORCID (8), Ana Salgado ORCID (7), Alice Santiago Faria ORCID (9), Christof Schöch ORCID (10), Luis Trigo ORCID (7)
(1) University of the Basque Country
(2) University of Alicante
(3) Università di Pisa
(4) Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa
(5) LaOficina Producciones Culturales
(6) Wikimedia Deutschland
(7) Universidade do Porto
(8) Universidad Isabel I
(9) Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
(10) Universität Trier
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Open on Zenodo
Submitted on
December 28, 2025
Accepted on
July 1, 2026
Published on
September 15, 2026
Last modified on
September 18, 2026
Volume 2
The Past
Research paper
DOI
10.46298/transformations.17200
License
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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227
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155
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The Wikibase Ecosystem in DH and GLAM

David Lindemann ORCID (1), Gustavo Candela ORCID (2), Alessandro Marchetti ORCID (3), Camillo Carlo Pellizzari di San Girolamo ORCID (4), Ismael Olea ORCID (5), Christos Varvantakis ORCID (6), Tiago Assis ORCID (7), Vera Moitinho de Almeida ORCID (7), Ángel Obregón Sierra ORCID (8), Ana Salgado ORCID (7), Alice Santiago Faria ORCID (9), Christof Schöch ORCID (10), Luis Trigo ORCID (7)
(1) University of the Basque Country
(2) University of Alicante
(3) Università di Pisa
(4) Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa
(5) LaOficina Producciones Culturales
(6) Wikimedia Deutschland
(7) Universidade do Porto
(8) Universidad Isabel I
(9) Universidade NOVA de Lisboa
(10) Universität Trier
Abstract
English
DARIAH-EU Working Group DHwiki presents this White Paper about Wikibase and the Wikibase Ecosystem as a digest of its permanent activity in providing documentation about MediaWiki-based software solutions to researchers. The output of the Working group is accessible on its Wikibase instance at https://dhwiki.wikibase.cloud. As diverse as the Working Group itself is the target group of this report: DH researchers, GLAM institutions, contributors to the software platforms provided by Wikimedia, and software developers. When starting to engage with Wikidata and Wikibase, we have seen ourselves sometimes lost in a diverse landscape of disperse documentation resources with different scope and aimed at differently skilled readers. With this contribution, we hope to provide a comfortable pathway towards adopting Wikibase in FAIR Linked Data publishing and collaborative data curation workflows.To help users navigate these platforms, this article brings together the main elements of the Wikibase ecosystem with a specific focus on DH and GLAM usecases. It explains the main structure and features of Wikibase, discusses key processes such as data round-tripping and reconciliation, and examines the role of Wikidata and Wikibase in managing identifiers, authority data and controlled vocabularies. By bringing these aspects together, the paper aims to supportthe use of Wikibase in FAIR-compliant and collaborative data workflows, while also drawing attention to wider issues such as sustainability, governance andreuse.
Italian
Il gruppo di lavoro DARIAH-EU DHwiki presenta questo white paper come introduzione pratica a Wikibase e al più ampio ecosistema Wikibase per ricercatori, professionisti del settore GLAM (Gallerie, Biblioteche, Archivi e Musei), collaboratori delle piattaforme legate a Wikimedia e sviluppatori software che lavorano con dati strutturati e riutilizzabili. Il lavoro del gruppo è documentato attraverso la propria istanza Wikibase all’indirizzo https://dhwiki.wikibase.cloud. Sebbene esista una grande quantità di documentazione su Wikibase e Wikidata, essa è frammentata su diverse piattaforme, varia per ampiezza di contenuti ed è scritta per lettori con diversi livelli di competenze tecniche. Tutto ciò può rendere difficile, specialmente per i neofiti nel contesto delle Digital Humanities (DH) e del settore GLAM, identificare i concetti, gli strumenti e i flussi di lavoro più pertinenti. Per far fronte a questo scenario, l’articolo affronta assieme i principali elementi dell’ecosistema Wikibase con un focus specifico sui casi d’uso in ambito DH e GLAM. Vengono illustrate la struttura principale e le funzionalità di Wikibase, discussi processi chiave come il data round-tripping e la riconciliazione dei dati, ed esaminato il ruolo di Wikidata e Wikibase nella gestione di identificativi, dati di autorità (authority data) e vocabolari controllati. Con la sua trattazione organica di tutti questi aspetti, l’articolo mira a supportare l’uso di Wikibase in flussi di lavoro di dati collaborativi e conformi ai principi FAIR, richiamando al contempo l’attenzione su questioni più ampie quali la sostenibilità, la governance e il riutilizzo.
Keywords
  • Linked Data
  • FAIR data
  • Wikibase
  • Wikidata
  • dati connessi
  • dati FAIR
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