Wikipedia

To browse other articles on a range of HSL topics, see the wiki index.

Introduction

See also Social media landscape and Wikis

Wikipedia is a multilingual, freely-accessible online encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers (called wikipedians). As the largest-ever conceived online encyclopedia with ~18 million articles, Wikipedia is a symbol of web 2.0 and mass collaboration. One of its primary features is its database of all editorial changes made on every page of the wiki, and anyone can add or question content. It is supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, and free of commercial advertising. As one of the most commonly used websites, it attracts 500 million visitors monthly or 30% of global Internet users, making it the sixth most popular website.

Wikipedia co-founder, Larry Sanger, says that ...professionals are no longer needed for the bare purpose of the mass distribution of information and the shaping of opinion. His ideas challenge the notion of "common knowledge" and position it against knowledge that everyone agrees on. Interestingly, Google Book Search is cited as an example of democratization of knowledge, but with Google's virtual monopoly in search and its hiding of details around its algorithm, some experts believe that a move towards true democratization of knowledge is unrealistic.

Affordances

• Anyone can use Wikipedia, and contribute to the site
• Hiring experts is expensive and therefore restrictive and time-consuming
• Using volunteers, drawing on collective efforts, is ingenious not only for access to information but also for bringing active web-users together worldwide
• A recent study by Nature magazine compared Wikipedia with Encyclopedia Britannica and found “among 42 science entries reviewed, "the difference in accuracy was not particularly great"” (Johnson).
• Good starting point for research to get background information and help librarians teach users about how to ascertain validity of an entry by checking the author’s background, etc . Therefore it is an opportunity to teach additional skills in a reference interview.
• Because Wikipedia is updated in real time, information is dispersed to the masses infinitely faster than if it were first edited through the site. Speed and access to information is unparalleled compared with traditional encyclopedias.

Constraints

• Anyone can use Wikipedia, and contribute to the site
• Updates are in real time, so false information can be perpetuated
• “Vandalism” is a problem; this is where users deface something on Wikipedia causing the entry to be locked down. Less than 1% of entries are locked, however
• Without knowing how to judge a particular entry, it can be difficult to trust information posted because it hasn't been vetted by an editor
• If entries are incomplete, users won’t have a sense of what is missing without conducting further research
• Wikipedia may be acceptable as a starting point, but not as a comprehensive research tool

References

• The Good And The Bad Of Wikipedia - CBS Sunday Morning - CBS News. 19 July 2010.
• Amichai–Hamburger, Y., N. Lamdan, R. Madiel, & T. Hayat (2008). "Personality characteristics of Wikipedia members." Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 11(6), http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2007.0225
• Medelyan, O., C. Legg, D. Milne, & I. H. Witten (2008). "Mining meaning from Wikipedia." arXiv, http://arxiv.org/abs/0809.4530
• Shachaf, P. (2009). "The paradox of expertise: Is the Wikipedia reference desk as good as your library?" Journal of Documentation, 65(6), 977-996, http://www.slis.indiana.edu/news/story.php?story_id=2064
• Viegas, F. B., M. Wattenberg, J. Kriss, & F. van Ham (2007). "Talk before you type: coordination in Wikipedia." IEEE Explore, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/HICSS.2007.511
• Keim B. Wikimedia. Nature Medicine. 2007;13(3):231-233.
• Kille A. Wikis in the workplace: How wikis can help manage knowledge in library reference services. LIBRES. 2006 Mar;15(2).
• Lamb B. Wide open spaces: Wikis, ready or not. Educause Review. 2004;39(5);36–48.
• Sauer IM et al. "Blogs" and "wikis" are valuable software tools for communication within research groups. Artif Organs. 2005;29:82–3.
• Skiba DJ. Do your students wiki? Nurs Educ Perspect. 2005;26:120–1.