User:Geraldckane

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My name is Gerald C. (Jerry) Kane. I am an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA. My research interests involve Web 2.0 technologies, primarily wikis and social networks, and my personal webpage can be found here.

I have conducted and am in the process of conducting a number of research projects related to the collaborative processes that take place on Wikipedia. Why? On Wikipedia, I have often heard the phrase "wikipedia works in practice, not in theory." I think that's because no one has ever studied the development of a Wikipedia article in depth. I think that both the Wikipedia community and the wider world can benefit from a better understanding of why Wikipedia works as well as it does. My previous and ongoing projects are:


  1. An in-depth case study of the collaborative processes related to the article on the Virginia Tech Massacre.
  2. A study articles nominated for Featured Article Status (April 2007 - July 2007) to determine whether particular features of the collaborative processes are associated with article quality.
  3. A study of articles in the Medicine Portal to determine accuracy and completeness of the information, as well as to determine who and why certain articles are developed (this study is being conducted in conjunction with the nursing school at BC).
  4. An opinions article (currently under review at the top academic IS journal), arguing that academia can learn much from Wikipedia and its processes.


Most of these articles are under review at academic journals, and I am happy to share them or my findings if you contact me (and promise not to circulate them widely).

Although I am not an active contributor to Wikipedia (mainly because of academic publishing pressures), I am an active user of Wiki technologies in my work and teaching. My teaching innovations using wikis have been profiled in Computerworld, eWeek, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and a number of other popular publications.

I always seek to conduct my research in ways that respects the hard work of Wikipedians and the wider Wikipedia community. If you have any concerns or questions about my work, please do not hesitate to contact me. I want my work to be conducted transparently and in a spirit of good faith.