[Web4lib] Authority + Wikipedia

[Jennifer Heise]

However, the opposite of the point mentioned below is what i'm really
interested in. I think it's our job to make authoritative information more
findable, instead of lamenting that information we consider less
authoritative is findable.

As it is, I see the library profession complaining about what is made
findable instead of working to make things more findable themselves.

How can we do that?
Well, with improved indexing. Improved searching and linking capabilities.
Metasearching. And yes, training.

Despite this link between findability and [perceived] authority, I think
> Karen's point is that this is (or should be) a distressing development
> for librarians. Just because a document is findable, this does not mean
> that its contents are *better* or more truthful than a document that is
> not findable. That scholarly research cites more freely available online
> articles just because they are freely available online is a commentary
> on human nature and the state of scholarly research--but it should not
> be a prescription for the library community.
>
> In objective terms, the findability of a document does not influence the
> quality of its information. As librarians, we are supposed to be experts
> on helping people find and retrieve quality information. Another way to
> say this is that we are supposed to be experts on helping people find
> and retrieve *authoritative* information.