Tuesday, August 21, 2007

To Wiki with love (well, Wikipedia, that is)

The most popular wiki on the web, Wikipedia, is also the most controversial. Teachers won't let students use it for reports; it's news if someone (like a senator) or an organization (like the Vatican) gets caught editing their entry.

What does Wikipedia have that other wikis don't?

Well, it is the largest on the web. EVERYBODY knows about it. They're a monolith. They're unstoppable. You will be assimilated. (Just joking.)

I can only tell you why I like it - not because I spend my time writing or editing entries. But because it IS a decent source of information about most things.

Granted, it's not for lazy people who can't be bothered to check other sources (ie, students). But it is a good jumping off point for finding information about certain topics. Such as when I want to find out about books I'm interested in reading. Most of the time it gives a good overview of the plot and I can decide whether or not I want to know more about it, or not. And the majority of entries give good information about the authors.

Unlike Amazon, they don't give critical reviews of a novel, which is good, because most of the time, something that other people dislike is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm contrarian - I like making up my own mind.

As for the research angle, well it's up to the teachers to tell the kids exactly what they're looking for when it comes to research. I think it's harsh to ban Wikipedia altogether, but if kids are going to be lazy and not look anywhere else (or, the problem we have in the library is that kids always want to pick the small book - as if size made something less challenging!)

Me, I love Wikipedia. I've spent many a happy hour going from entry to entry, looking up things. And I've even thought up a motto for them:

"Wikipedia - by geeks for geeks."

(Man, I spend too much time at the computer. )

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