[Web4lib] Authority + Wikipedia

[jwylder]

>whenever I hear references to "'the' community," I hold my wristwatch
high.

This may be the crux of the matter.  When my nine-year-old daughter uses
the Britannica for her report on dinosaurs, it's considered
authoritative.  When someone is working on her dissertation on
brachiosaurid sauropods, it isn't.

Highly specialized communities have their own standards for what is and
isn't authoritative.  Being popular *and* authoritative are probably
incompatible in many situations, especially academic ones. 

John Wylder
Head of Extension Division
Decatur Public Library
130 N. Franklin St.
Decatur, IL 62521
(217) 421-9751

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of K.G. Schneider
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 10:18 AM
To: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Web4lib] Authority + Wikipedia

> In 2003 I wrote an article for Searcher magazine proposing that we
> need a "graphic equalizer" for search engines -- knobs and dials that
> we can twist and turn to control how a search engine orders the hit
> list.

On my extreme-happiness wishlist would be if Google had a widget you
could
click to give priority to items selected by Librarians' Internet Index. 

(Sometimes people ask me about an LII toolbar, which until we improve
how
our search works would almost be self-defeating. "Why doesn't it work
like
Google!" Etc. Such things have existed but I'm tepid towards them... I
think
it's backwards... the little bird should hop on the hippo's back, not
vice
versa. Squish.) 

I was interviewed about Wikipedia some time ago by Open Source Radio,
and I
still feel burned by the interviewer, who had not revealed in advance
that
he was Wikipedia-gaga. Lots of mystical talk about Wikipedia, but
whenever I
hear references to "'the' community," I hold my wristwatch high. Have I
used
it? Of course. But until Wikipedia resolves the authority
questions--particularly how you improve the chances (which is always
what we
are talking about with authority, never an absolute) that someone
looking at
the resource right then can evaluate and/or trust what he or she reads
without being part of "'the' community"--it's just the latest water
cooler
for the digirati. 

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com

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