A new 3 page Q&A interview with the co-founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales. Here are a couple of exchanges we found most interesting.
Q. Would you recommend Wikipedia as a reference work to students?
A. Yes, but as long as some precautions are taken. Wikipedia is an excellent starting point. It is a comprehensive encyclopedia, written in a simple language and easy to access, but Wikipedia is not the best final point for research.
One has to deepen the investigation and consult other sources of information. The reader might find these sources at the footnote of the entries, where there are good references about the subject, such as books, newspapers, magazines and other websites.
What else can be done to improve Wikipedia?
The most important step we have taken in the last few years is the system of highlighted reviews.
The idea is to guarantee the public is reading an entry that has been reviewed by a trustful member of the community.
This system was tested as a pilot project in the German version of Wikipedia and the result was quite good. We are close to reaching an agreement with the volunteers of the English version of Wikipedia to implement a similar project. This is the kind of thing we are always doing to improve the content of the encyclopedia.
The FreePint Family is a family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success.
'FreePint... provides most of my professional development because it won't come through work and [other resources] just don't cut it.'
FUMSI Forum: Do you have a research question? Post it to the FUMSI Forum, where professionals share Q&A and useful tips on how to Find, Use, Manage and Share Information. It's free.
FreePint Shop:
VIP LiveWire:
