[Web4lib] The Wikipedia Gotcha

[Kate Butler]

That may be true, but any proper citation of a website should include the date it was accessed. Wikipedia isn't the only website that can be changed, deleted or altered in between the period of time when the citation is made and someone else goes to check up on it. Perhaps in the case of a wikipedia article it may be wise to also include the -time-, since a page may be updated several times in a day. (Then again, this is the case for -any- website...)
 
With that information at hand, it should be a relatively simple exercise to consult the history and locate the version that was there when the citer saw it.
 
Kate

________________________________

From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Richard Wiggins
Sent: Wed 2/21/2007 11:37 AM
To: Rob Styles
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] The Wikipedia Gotcha[Spam score: 8%]_



Let me clarify:  People who cite Wikipedia do not tend to cite a version.
They cite Wikipedia.  So you read an old article citing an old version, you
head to Wikipedia and you read new, possibly better, possibly worse
information.

/rich


On 2/21/07, Rob Styles <Rob.Styles at talis.com> wrote:
>
>   You're right of course that not all edits are improvements and that is
> the thrust of much of the discussion on this thread. That's part of the
> downside of collaboration with groups of any size. I agree that there also a
> number of pages that are so contentious that they have to be special cases.
>
>
>
> You are incorrect about the assertion that there is no versioning,
> however. All pages carry full history in a little tab at the top:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Library_2.0&action=history
>
>
>
> rob
>
>
>
> Rob Styles
> Programme Manager, Data Services, Talis
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>
> *From:* Richard Wiggins [mailto:richard.wiggins at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* 21 February 2007 15:58
> *To:* Rob Styles
> *Cc:* web4lib at webjunction.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Web4lib] The Wikipedia Gotcha
>
>
>
> That cuts both ways.  It would be foolish to assume that each article
> grows ever more perfect over time.  Remember Wikipedia having to ban
> house.gov because Congressional staffers were gleefully editing their
> bosses' bios to sanitize away their foibles?  Any given edit could be an
> improvement, or it could turn the Wikipedia article into total falsehood.
>
>
>
> And there is no version control.
>
>
>
> Thus you could cite the earlier, correct version of the article, and when
> people follow the citation link, they get the current, 100% wrong version.
>
>
>
> /rich
>
>
>
> On 2/21/07, *Rob Styles* <Rob.Styles at talis.com> wrote:
>
> Let's also consider though how the two systems - journals and Wikipedia
> - handle failures in the integrity of the work.
>
>
> If I reference (in print) an article on Wikipedia that has incorrect
> material in it my reference may remain static but the material need not.
> The article can be updated to reflect new information, corrections,
> citations of newer sources. If my article achieves notoriety for,
> perhaps, misquoting or misrepresenting the meaning of the Wikipedia
> article the article can supplemented to correct and specifically address
> visitors arriving from my reference. Those interested in what was
> contained on Wikipedia at the time of my reference can refer to the
> history and make their own conclusions.
>
> In short, web-based material is able to recover from mistakes in a way
> that printed material is not.
>
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