[WEB4LIB] Re: Co-founder of Wikipedia talks about problems

[Drew, Bill]

I find the reasoning here to be suspect in some ways. 

> First we must agree that Wikipedia is needed, or this discussion
> becomes pointless.  

Then this discussion is pointless!  Juts because people use it does not
mean it is needed.  It could mean that they are unaware of better
resources.

>Second, improvements over what Wikipedia is today
> must be possible to implement, either in Wikipedia or in a competing
> system.  

Until it becomes a resource created by experts and verified in some way,
it will always be suspect in my view.  A free resource as broad as
Wikipedia will never be peer reviewed in any significant way.  When
anyone can change the content in an article it is impossible to keep it
reliable.
> 
> A third and minor detail is that I think you have misunderstood
> Wikipedia's concept of Neutral Point of View.  NPOV does not mean the
> encyclopedia must arrive at a single point of view.  Instead, it often
> means that the text of the encyclopedia should be neutral in the
> presentation of the various points of view that exist in society.

Does this mean that Creationists could change articles on evolution?
Would those that believe in Intelligent Design of the Cosmos be
considered factual where there is no scientific evidence?

> 
> That the web needs a free encyclopedia (and none existed 
> before 2001)  
> is shown by Wikipedia's outstanding popularity.  

Just because it is popular does not show a need for a free encyclopedia.
It may show how little most internet users care about the quality of the
information they use.

>Innovations
> always appeal to new categories of users.  Wikipedia is primarily for
> Internet users, not for traditional users of encyclopedias.  This is a
> classic generation shift, as described in "The Innovator's Dilemma" by
> Clayton M. Christensen.

This is very faulty reasoning in my mind.  I am one of the early users
of the Internet and I still use computers. 
This is not a classic generation shift. It just shows people going to
what is available with the least effort!


Of course, I may be wrong on all of my points.

Bill Drew
drewwe at morrisville.edu