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research article

A Large-Scale Characterization of How Readers Browse Wikipedia

Piccardi, Tiziano  
•
Gerlach, Martin
•
Arora, Akhil  
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May 1, 2023
Acm Transactions On The Web

Despite the importance and pervasiveness of Wikipedia as one of the largest platforms for open knowledge, surprisingly little is known about how people navigate its content when seeking information. To bridge this gap, we present the first systematic large-scale analysis of how readers browse Wikipedia. Using billions of page requests from Wikipedia's server logs, we measure how readers reach articles, how they transition between articles, and how these patterns combine into more complex navigation paths. We find that navigation behavior is characterized by highly diverse structures. Although most navigation paths are shallow, comprising a single pageload, there is much variety, and the depth and shape of paths vary systematically with topic, device type, and time of day. We show that Wikipedia navigation paths commonly mesh with external pages as part of a larger online ecosystem, and we describe how naturally occurring navigation paths are distinct from targeted navigation in lab-based settings. Our results further suggest that navigation is abandoned when readers reach low-quality pages. Taken together, these insights contribute to a more systematic understanding of readers' information needs and allow for improving their experience on Wikipedia and the Web in general.

  • Details
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Type
research article
DOI
10.1145/3580318
Web of Science ID

WOS:000970850700005

Author(s)
Piccardi, Tiziano  
Gerlach, Martin
Arora, Akhil  
West, Robert  
Date Issued

2023-05-01

Publisher

ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY

Published in
Acm Transactions On The Web
Volume

17

Issue

2

Start page

11

Subjects

Computer Science, Information Systems

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Computer Science, Software Engineering

•

Computer Science

•

wikipedia

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web navigation

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server logs

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information needs

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information behavior

•

usability

•

search

•

model

•

user

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
DLAB  
Available on Infoscience
May 22, 2023
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/197721
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