03 January 2009

Posted at 12:45h in community, jimmy wales, wikipedia by

I love Wikipedia.Not only do I use it as a predominant tool for researching assignments (take that University lecturers) but I spend hours upon hours every week reading pages for my own amusement and education. In fact, it's not uncommon for me to have ten different Wikipedia pages open at once. This week alone I've read about a conspiracy theory, a science phenomenon, US Presidential impeachments, a box office flop and my favourite sitcom.An incredible example demonstrating the power of community, collaboration, and connectivity. Today it is the eighth most popular website on the Internet.Even more remarkably, Wikipedia has run for eight years with only 23 paid employees and is completely funded through donations. Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, has recently released an appeal for donations.So. For every blog post from now until the end of January that mentions Wikipedia is in need of donations and links back to this post, I will donate $10. I know that's possibly some form of unethical link baiting, but I figure I will probably make a greater impact using your blog instead of mine.It's not going to cure cancer, but I believe it is still a worthy cause....

12 April 2008

Posted at 16:15h in academics, google, scholar, university, wikipedia by

This post is aimed at the world of academics and I am sure my views are shared by my fellow undergraduate students. For those of you unfamiliar with the Harvard Referencing System, the title refers to an intext reference. However you would never see a reference from Wikipedia because it is not an legitimately recognised source. This is of course ignoring the fact that Wikipedia now has over two million articles making it the largest ever encyclopedia. This is also forgetting that this is the most contributed to with over two hundred million edits, creating the most unbiased source of information on the Interweb. So why can't this be used as a credible source? To further establish their credibility, Wikipedia has recently implemented a mandatory referencing system, particularly on theory based articles. We've also seen Google launch Google Scholar allowing the search for academic based journals and articles. The way in which we seek information has changed. I am a University student who has never been into the library. So why isn't it possible to reference the biggest source of information on the Internet? Or a blog? Or a podcast? The Internet is no longer a source people can't trust. The academics of today are not living in today's world where the way in which we communicate has changed....