Know It All

1. What do you think are the author's main points in this article?
The author's main point is that Wikipedia is a work in progress. Wikipedia is a site that provides opportunities for self-expression from those with P.H.Ds or those who are 17 years old. However, this freedom can cause problems, such as unreliability as a source. The competition for edit counts has also become a problem. There have been editing wars, and many (teenagers) have "vandalized" certain sites as a form of entertainment. The author also compares Wikipedia to Encyclopedia Britannica, and thinks that Britannica is a superior and more reliable source.

2. An important part of credible writing is selecting good supporting evidence. Select a passage from this article that illustrates the effective use of supporting detail. Explain why you think it is particularly effective.
"Last year, Nature published a survey comparing forty-two entries on scientific topics on Wikipedia with their counterparts in Encyclopedia Britannica. According to the survey, Wikipedia had four errors for every three of Britannica’s, a result that, oddly, was hailed as a triumph for the upstart"
The author refers to a survey that gives statistical information, and then uses it to compare Wikipedia and Britannica.


3. Throughout the article, the author compares Wikipedia to the Encyclopedia Britannica, but not specifically on design. How would you compare the two encyclopedias from a design perspective? I am not familiar with Britannica as much as I am with Wikipedia. From the reading, I can get a sense of the behavioral design of the two and how they differ. Britannica is more of a collection of essays where as Wikipedia is information sources that are able to be edited by the public. For me, Wikipedia is very easy to understand. You type in the topic you are interested in, in the search bar, and results are listed on page where you can navigate as you wish. I have edited sources before for class assignments, and that can be a little tricky. I get a sense from the reading that Britannica is overall just a more superior source because it can not be edited like Wikipedia and also because the content is more sophisticated.