Free knowledge sharing in an open internet community: the case of Wikipedia
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2005-10-23
Author(s)
Herting, Stephan
Abstract (De)
In this paper, the concept of a private-collective innovation model that has been applied to Open Source Software projects will be used to analyze the case of the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia. The work suggests that the implications drawn in a software development context hold as well in different community based collaboration contexts. Endorsing the generalizability of the concept, this work instigates further research to be conducted using the model in a company setting. Additionally, the paper gives rise to the question how the incentives used to explain knowledge sharing in communities should be under research.