Wednesday, April 16, 2014

#Wikidata - an old soldier from Russia

My interest in Mr Styrov is that he died in 2014, on January 26 to be precise. In the info-box on the article that is dedicated to him, it is just one of several facts. Among them there is the rank of Rear Admiral he held in the Soviet Navy and the many awards he received. Among them is the order of Lenin.

With Mr Styrov added as someone who died in 2014, we are closer to the point where Wikidata knows all the people. When we are, we can make a report that will signal the latest people who are known to have died in the last year.

This can be of interest to people who want to know things like:
  • Do we know that this person who has an article on our Wikipedia has died
  • Fellow country men who died and do not have an article on our Wikipedia
  • What person are notable enough to have an article on our Wikipedia
When such reports become available, the data in Wikidata gains a purpose. Some may see it as getting Wikipedia to use the data by the back door, but isn't it there to be used?
Thanks,
      GerardM

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