The Best OF the Internet (2/2)
When it comes to top sites, the best get straight to the point, while online encyclopedias sometimes miss the mark completely
Wikipedia: A knowledge free-for-all
The famous online encyclopedia Wikipedia offers multiple language editions, and the English one has over a million articles. These include international news stories as well as articles on a wide rage of categories from art, history and mathematics, to philosophy, science, technology and more.
Wikipedia is intriguing because it"s free, and written by volunteers. In fact, anyone with access to the web can contribute. Most articles include an Edit this Page button enabling readers to add or edit the text. Wikipedia stores the revisions, which gradually develop by general consensus. New articles may be submitted by any registered Wikipedia user. Contributors are instructed to maintain a neutral point of view and to avoid controversial topics. They"re told not to submit articles that are thinly disguised advertisements or personal essays. And, they"re advised not to copy others" published work unless it"s essential, and then to document the source.
But is it accurate?
Interestingly, a study by the British journal Nature involved experts in reviewing science articles from Wikipedia and the Encyclopaedia Britannaica. The reviewers found a few serious errors, and quite a few minor errors in both (Wikipedia had a few more minor errors). Reviewers also noted that many Wikipedia entries were poorly structured and confusing.
The official site editors rely on individuals like you and me (plus a group of selected volunteers) to review and correct errors in the articles, while they focus on enforcing the non-bias policy. Usually, they manage to help contributors reach a consensus on controversial topics, though when that fails, they occasionally block offenders from making future changes. The site tries to guide contributors to focus on improving articles rather than debating opinions. Emphasis is on creating accurate and well-written articles through collaboration rather than competition..
Vocabulary Focus
consensus (n) --- a generally accepted opinion or decision among a group of people
controversial(adj) --- causing a lot of disagreement about something, usually because it is important to many people
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