Wikipedia Evolves
Wikipedia - the online free encyclopedia - has grown into one of the web's web 2.0 successes. It has over 1.7 million visitors on the English version alone. The downside to this free service is that sometimes you'll find erroneous information, outdated articles or not factually accurate articles used as sources.
But, to faithful Wikipedia users, this is a small price to pay for the wealth of information that is available to them instantly in an open "anyone can edit these pages" concept.
In an article, Founder defends evolving Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, founder, defends his vision and says the new version will try to eliminate some of the problems.
He says new features will make it easier to detect errors coming in from the community. But, Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia doesn't think this will change anything. In an article, Wikipedia co-founder seeks to start over, Sanger wants to create a better free encyclopedia. His project called, Citizendium will still enjoy the same benefits of Wikipedia, but aims to eliminate factual errors. Unlike Wikipedia, Citizendium will want its contributors to provide real names and experts in various fields will be asked to check articles for accuracy.
Will this be better than Wikipedia? Would Wikipedia be better if it had experts verifying facts? Would this be a better alternative to a free encyclopedia? Obviously, it isn't the only one out there, but is it going to try to address the issues and criticisms that face Wikipedia?
The fact that both encyclopedia's still have the "anyone can edit" motto, this draws in a lot of people. But, the issue still lies with identity and verification. How many people (experts) would Citizendium need to hire in order to make itself a credible source on the website that teachers would accept as a source of reference for student papers?
The future will tell if Sanger has the right idea.
But, to faithful Wikipedia users, this is a small price to pay for the wealth of information that is available to them instantly in an open "anyone can edit these pages" concept.
In an article, Founder defends evolving Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, founder, defends his vision and says the new version will try to eliminate some of the problems.
He says new features will make it easier to detect errors coming in from the community. But, Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia doesn't think this will change anything. In an article, Wikipedia co-founder seeks to start over, Sanger wants to create a better free encyclopedia. His project called, Citizendium will still enjoy the same benefits of Wikipedia, but aims to eliminate factual errors. Unlike Wikipedia, Citizendium will want its contributors to provide real names and experts in various fields will be asked to check articles for accuracy.
Will this be better than Wikipedia? Would Wikipedia be better if it had experts verifying facts? Would this be a better alternative to a free encyclopedia? Obviously, it isn't the only one out there, but is it going to try to address the issues and criticisms that face Wikipedia?
The fact that both encyclopedia's still have the "anyone can edit" motto, this draws in a lot of people. But, the issue still lies with identity and verification. How many people (experts) would Citizendium need to hire in order to make itself a credible source on the website that teachers would accept as a source of reference for student papers?
The future will tell if Sanger has the right idea.
posted by Anna Kat at 9:27 PM
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
I just read where a U.S. university has banned all Wikipedia references in student's papers.
If you *really* know a subject, read the Wikipedia entry and I am pretty sure you'll find an error or two.
Maybe Sanger is onto something.
You're right. Teachers, professors - any academic doesn't recognize Wikipedia as a credible source. There are a lot of errors on there. I'm even a source on one of the articles and there's a newer version of my article online. Of course, not updated.
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