TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: Wikipedia Becomes Internet Force, But Faces Crisis

Re: Wikipedia Becomes Internet Force, But Faces Crisis

Danny Burstein (dannyb@panix.com)
Sat, 17 Dec 2005 01:58:58 UTC

In <telecom24.566.10@telecom-digest.org> tls@panix.com (Thor Lancelot
Simon) writes:

> In article <telecom24.565.7@telecom-digest.org>, Dave Garland
> <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> wrote:

>> The exercise revealed numerous errors in both encyclopaedias, but
>> among 42 entries tested, the difference in accuracy was not
>> particularly great: the average science entry in Wikipedia contained
>> around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three ...

> I'm astonished that a 25% difference is considered "not particularly
> great".

I'm shocked that finding "four major errors" (out of 50) [as stated in
the original article] in both Wikipedia _AND_ in the Encyclopeadia
Brittanica hasn't led to people ripping the latter to shreds.

The EB is supposedly a solid and accurate reference work. Yet here
it's got an eight percent "major error" rate.

(And the count of 123 less serious ones, while better than the 162 in
Wiki, is very ugly as well).

_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
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