Technology Tip:
What is going on with
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is the
biggest, free-content encyclopedia on the internet and one of the top 100
websites in the world. This unique
online encyclopedia allows users to log on and become contributors. As a result many articles are written by the
foremost experts in a field with lots of current information. As always, some articles are poorly written
and may contain incorrect information.
This has lead to the discussion about whether Wikipedia happens to be a
reliable source.
The website has
often been criticized for inaccuracies by educators. Even the co-founder of the website, Larry
Sanger has publicly stated that “While Wikipedia is still quite useful and an
amazing phenomenon, I have come to the view that it is also broken beyond
repair”. Here is a link to Wikipedia
response of:
Whatever your thoughts are about Wikipedia,
there are some good uses for a site like this. For example, one good use
for Wikipedia is researching the most recent developments in technology. The
way it is edited it can be quickly updated with the most recent
information about technological developments well before more traditional
reference sources can even start to make updates. It can also be useful
in pointing a researcher towards more reliable sources of information.
Most Wikipedia entries include several links to outside websites that contain
additional information. Another great
thing is the site is well laid out, easy to use and has an efficient search
engine.
Recently the co-founder of Wikipedia has
founded a new website called Citizendium
where he hopes to improve on the Wikipedia model by adding "gentle expert
oversight" and requiring contributors to use their real names. Other
internet resources are being developed like Scholarpedia. There's even an online global map
where you can enter information about geographic locations called Wikimapia. Each of these projects offers a
different model for verifying information and they each have strengths and
weaknesses, but they all represent a uniquely human ambition to somehow catalog
human knowledge online.
For more thoughts on the controversies
surrounding Wikipedia here's an article on the topic by Bill Platt.
To keep learning more about online encyclopedias try
searching the internet for:
The Wikipedia Model
Problems with Wikipedia
Should Wikipedia be Banned
Problems with Wikipedia
Should Wikipedia be Banned
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