a. What is Wikipedia?
ANSWER: According to a short essay from Times Topic Page on Wikipedia (Cohen, 2009), Wikipedia is a multilingual Web-based encyclopedia project that is operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. The Wikimedia Foundation is a nonprofit organization. Wikipedia was founded in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger and has grown very rapidly. The essay Times Topic Page on Wikipedia (Cohen, 2009) also notes that Wikipedia is among the top ten most visited sites on the Internet around the world, aided by the fact that Google searches usually list its entries near the top on results pages. Each Wikipedia begins with telling the researcher that this site is “the collaborative creation of users of the site, some anonymous, some note, and have been tweaked many times over (Cohen, 2009, para. 1).
b. How would you answer the question posed in this piece “How reliable can a source be when anyone can edit it?”
ANSWER: Good question! I do not feel that the information can be considered reliable if the person who supplied the information on Wikipedia is anonymous. I also feel that the use of Wikipedia depends on what type of research you are conducting. In addition, it depends on how your instruction views the information on Wikipedia. But the bottom line is Wikipedia is easy to access, but if you are writing a research paper, it is critical that you take the time to search databases to support your thesis.
c. Who do the creators of Wikipedia place their trust in when it comes to weeding out misinformation?
ANSWER: It would appear that the creators put their “faith” in the “wisdom of crowds” and rely on the readers of Wikipedia to weed out errors and vandalism when they access the site.
d. Why did founder Larry Sanger leave Wikipedia?
ANSWER: According to Cohen (2009), Larry Sanger left Wikipedia because he felt that more authority should be given to experts in order to add information to the sites on Wikipedia.
e. What would abuse or vandalism look like on a Wikipedia page?
ANSWER: Vandalism or abuse is any addition, removal, or change of content in a deliberate attempt to compromise the integrity of Wikipedia. Examples of typical vandalism are adding irrelevant obscenities and crude humor to a page, illegitimately blanking pages, and inserting obvious nonsense into a page. Intentionally making abusive edits to Wikipedia will result in a block, which is the method by which administrators technically prevent users from editing Wikipedia. Blocks may be applied to user accounts, to IP addresses, and to ranges of IP addresses, for either a definite or indefinite time.
f. What do the statistics quoted in the third paragraph of this piece reveal?
ANSWER: First of all, I will list the statistics in Cohen’s (2009) third paragraph. They reveal that as of September, the English Wikipedia published article No. 2 million. In addition, it is also reported that there are Wikipedias in more that 280 languages, which totals more than eight million articles. These statistics tell me that Wikipedia is not only accessible in many languages, but Wikipedia also offers millions of topics. I feel that due to the large number of articles available through Wikipedia, there would be information on a wide variety of subjects.
g. Why do you think Wikipedia is so successful?
ANSWER: As Cohen (2009) states in this article, [Wikipedia] is “aided by the fact that Google searches typically list Wikipedia entries prominently on results pages” (para. 3). Since Google “prominently” displays Wikipedia, access is made quite easy for anyone who uses Google as a search engine. And who does not rely on Google when they are using the Internet? Cohen (2009) also notes that Wikipedia is among the top ten most visited sites on the Internet around the world. I feel that all of these reasons contribute to the success of Wikipedia.
h. Why might Wikipedia’s creators not want to accept advertising?
ANSWER: By not accepting advertising, I feel that Wikipedia’s creators are attempting to establish that what is reported in their articles is not biased or based on promoting or selling any given product. Also, I feel that the creators are trying to give this site a more professional look instead of having advertising popping on the page and distracting the reader. In addition, Cohen reports that Wikipedia relies on donations from an online Internet user or visitor and other, indirect commercial efforts to add to the success of the site (2009, para. 4).
i. How does Wikiscanner help increase the reliability of Wikipedia entries?
ANSWER: The tool, Wikiscanner, is used to allow the IP address of anonymous editors of the site to be easily checked. This tool has been used to expose examples of self-interested editing by prominent businesses and governments. Wikipedia’s leaders feel that this tool will prove to be a valuable device that will aid in the checking of abuse on Wikipedia. If the leaders at Wikipedia show a strong commitment to checks such as using the Wikiscanner, readers may begin to feel that this site does offer more reliable information.
Works Cited
Cohen, Noam. Times Topic Page on Wikipedia. 2009. Web. 2 Nov. 2011.
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