Week7: Respond to Content

Kind words for Wikipedia!

Wikipedia is often shoved to the side as an unworthy source of information. This is sensible as the articles are open for editing, thus open for mistakes and false information.  But! Wikipedia certainly isn’t unworthy of positive attention…

http://www.moongrabber.com/misc/the-problem-with-wikipedia-today

Wikipedia contains over 3 million articles, and more than a million people a day visit the website (Rosenzweig 2006, pg. 117-116). Its wide spread influence, despite its reputation for containing incorrect information, is noticeable world-wide. Ask yourself, how many times have you been desperate for a quick definition, or a briefing of history, and Wikipedia has been the click of your mouse? Wikipedia’s accessibility, availability of articles, and constant re-editing of work, makes it the most up-to-date encyclopaedia you will find (Lengel 2006, para. 6). The ‘reference’ list at the bottom of every Wikipedia source is a great beginning to your research. Amongst these advantages, the two most important in my opinion, are as follows:

Freedom:

‘Wikipedia is entirely free!’(Rosenzweig 2006) Anyone with internet can access Wikipedia for free, unlike some scholarly journals where one has to pay and subscribe. Plus, Wikipedia is free to use. People can take information from Wikipedia and put it in their website, or even publish it in a book. The freedom of use and information, suggests why the encyclopaedia is widely read and cited.

Culture:

Wikipedia ‘channels all resources around the world into a sharing vessel.’(Fan 2008, para.5) Creating a Cultural based ‘vessel’ of information means that multiple authors, per article, has voluntarily published their knowledge, without the acknowledgment of themselves, to collaboratively create history. Having writers of various ages allows for a broader audience.

Although Wikipedia has its disadvantages, it cannot be denied that its influence has certainly changed the way we write history.

References:

Rosenzweig, R 2006, Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past, Vol 93, no. 1, pg. 117-118, viewed 21 September 2011, via Oxford Journals

http://ecpdata.mdsa.net/sources_secondary/rosenzweig-highres.pdf

Lengel, J 2006, Teaching with Technology, viewed 21 September 2011, http://powertolearn.typepad.com/digital_smarts_blog/media_literacy/page/5/

Fan, KH 2008, The Advantages of Wikipedia, viewed 21 September 2011, http://fankanghsin.blogspot.com/2008/04/advantages-of-wikipedia.html