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Drawing on examples from Roman antiquity onward, but focusing on the years since 1700, we identify three forms of encyclopedic production: compulsive collection, stigmergic accumulation, and corporate production. While each could be characterized as a discrete period, we point out the existence of significant overlaps in time as well as with the production of Wikipedia today. Our analysis explores the relation of editors, their collaborators, and their modes of composition with respect to changing notions of authorship and originality. Ultimately, we hope our contribution will help scholars avoid ahistorical claims about Wikipedia, identify historical cases germane to the social scientist\u2019s concerns, and show that contemporary questions about Wikipedia have a lifespan exceeding the past decade.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444812470428","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,1,15]],"date-time":"2013-01-15T20:56:40Z","timestamp":1358283400000},"page":"1294-1311","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["Wikipedia and encyclopedic production"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Jeff","family":"Loveland","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Cincinnati, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joseph","family":"Reagle","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Northeastern University, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2013,1,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444812470428","unstructured":"Adler BT, (2008) Measuring author contributions to the Wikipedia. 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