About Wikipedia
According to Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia is “an effort to create and distribute a multilingual free encyclopedia of the highest quality to every single person on the planet in his or her own language.” In other words, the site is a collaboration of people’s work and knowledge from around the world. Started in 2001, it is now one of the largest reference websites on the Internet. In fact, over 9,000,000 articles have been added by as many as 75,000 users, written in over 250 languages!
Technically, Wikipedia uses a software known as MediaWiki- a wiki “that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily.” Anyone with access to the Internet can enter the site and write or edit articles continually, leading to improved quality and accuracy over time. In addition, the site believes that this continuous editing process results in a “fair and balanced representation of information” as well.
When an article is first written on Wikipedia, it is rarely 100% accurate and neutral. However, after discussion, argument and debate, consensus eventually leads to a neutral point of view. Individuals who add and edit articles are fondly known as “Wikipedians,” and there are a number of efforts in place to make sure information remains accurate and reliable. First, an article written by an active contributor is not verified until citations are supplied for it. Secondly, anyone can view changes made to pages as they happen by opening the ‘Recent Changes’ page. There is in fact a Recent Changes Patrol, a voluntary group of users who monitor the Recent Changes section and continually correct and update inaccurate information. In addition, it is Wikipedia policy for its administrators to delete libelous material; they are chosen through community discussion and have the power to prevent pages from editing and block users from changing articles.
As explained earlier, anyone can both contribute new articles and editing existing ones on the encyclopedia. This results in a compilation of work by people of all ages, cultural backgrounds and societies. However, users must work within Wikipedia’s ‘Editing Policies,’ for example, they must be referenced or are likely to be removed. The website also has its own editors who ensure the site remain a “high-quality resource.” These editors also create editing programs to track incorrect or unverified edits. According to the site itself, there are over 1,000 administrators monitoring the site continuously. Finally, when editors can’t agree or solve a problem, a judicial committee steps in a decides the issue.
A sure way of finding reliable pages is by searching the site’s “Featured Articles” section. Here, editors choose the articles they consider the best and delegate them as a Featured Article. Once an article is chosen, it is reviewed by Wikipedia: Featured Article candidates for ‘accuracy, neutrality, completeness, and style.’ Following Featured Articles are those considered ‘Good Articles,’ or second in quality and reliability.
A useful feature Wikipedia offers is the linked text that appears throughout articles. Basically, text throughout an article may be highlighted, and when clicked on takes the user to a relevant page or article. In addition, other links are offered at the end of articles, including ‘other articles of interest, relevant external web sites and pages, reference material,’ etc. Another way of contributing to the site is by adding more links if you feel one is missing.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/About:Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Very_Frequently_Asked_Questions
The search tool I used initially was Yahoo.com, mainly because I almost always rely only on Google and wanted to experiment with a new search engine. I used the search term “about Wikipedia” to find how the site works, hopefully in a language I’d be able to understand! Luckily it wasn’t technical at all and I found it extremely easy to read and understand. My search led me to over 345,000,000 articles, and I chose Wikipedia’s own article as well as a New York Times article written on the subject. I believe these two articles provided accurate and reliable information, as they were both heavily cited and, in Wikipedia’s case, constantly edited and updated. Both of their missions are to spread knowledge and information, and both articles were fairly recent (NY Times in June 2007, Wikipedia was last edited… today!). The information I found on Wikipedia’s website was almost overwhelming- however, it was all extremely useful and I was able to pick and choose the pages I found most relevant. I noticed that a number of articles have been written on the controversies raised by Wikipedia and the different viewpoints about the encyclopedia. Therefore, I’m not at all worried about the second and third sections of our project… I don’t think we’ll run into any problems, even with finding examples and stories illustrating the different issues.
-Question to group members: I found lots of other information that we may want to include, although it is more about the site’s background than how it actually works. Do you think we should include who owns the encyclopedia, information about The Wikimedia Foundation, etc.? Also, do you think we might want to quickly take the class through and example of a Wikipedia page edit? May take up too much time and we may be doing it in class, but it also may help illustrate how the site works….
