[Web4lib] Problems with Wikipedia

[Jesse Ephraim]

>Now you are implicitly saying that *other* 
>sources (printed books) *are* inherently reliable.  
>But are they?  

That is why I have a problem with the concept of "authoritative"
sources. 

>Maybe the real benefit of Wikipedia is that it forces us to ask this
question.

Precisely.

Wikipedia has several strengths. New information is added quickly, and
articles go through a peer review process (of sorts).  It is a great
place to find other resources, and covers topics for which there ARE no
"authoritative" resources.  It also does away with the assumption that
some topics are more worthy of documentation than others, which is an
ongoing problem (to my way of thinking) in the development of reference
works (especially encyclopedias).

Jesse Ephraim

Adult Services / Reference Librarian
Southlake Public Library
1400 Main Street, Suite 130
Southlake, TX  76092
(817) 748-8247
jephraim at ci.southlake.tx.us