Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-11-20/In the news

In an apparent follow-up to its prior article [http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i10/10a03101.htm "Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?"] by Brock Read, The Chronicle of Higher Education published [http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i13/13b01001.htm a second article] by Ann Kirschner. Kirshner explains Wikipedia, the Wikipedia phenomenon and her own attempts to edit. She credits "editorial elves" for improving her contribution and recounts her search for the editor who added an image. Kirshner then explains the history function and how she found that Danny Wool added the image. Wool is subsequently quoted in the article. Kirshner concludes: "for now, Wikipedia works. ... I'm prepared to believe that Wikipedia's millions of eyes will continue its evolution and improve its quality."

Wikipedia quality continues to be a topic that generates significant coverage in the media. In Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald carried [http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/trust-me-im-an-online-encyclopedia/2006/11/14/1163266547931.html an article] criticizing those that trust Wikipedia. ABC-9 in Syracuse, New York ran [http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=1314000F-69A5-49D1-8065-C871EDBD617A a report] with the lead "If you or maybe your child is doing some research online, you most likely run into Wikipedia." The article notes that not everything is accurate and reports on a Quinnipiac who purposefully added incorrect information. The Dartmouth reported on the views of Dartmouth College professors on Wikipedia. The article quotes: Wikipedia is "not the same as a peer-reviewed journal", and that "Wikipedia is often useful as a quick orientation tool that requires verification."

MarketWatch, in [http://blogs.marketwatch.com/bambi/2006/11/wikipedia_on_mi.html an article] covering the death of Milton Friedman identified Wikipedia as being what the "advocate of free markets as a means to create political and social freedom ... might [use as] a great example of how free markets can produce efficiencies." The article subsequently quoted 2 paragraphs from the Wikipedia entry on Friedman.

So claims Tim Krohn in [http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_318010657.html an article] in the Mankato Free Press. Krohn interviews Max Hailperin, the chairman of the local college's mathematics department. Hailperin warns readers not to "trust anything as an authoritative source of information." However, he also says, "if it’s some noncontroversial, factual piece of information, chances are what you find there is correct." The article also reports on Wikipedia's coverage of local areas of interest.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Pearson PLC is partnering with University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and MIT's Sloan School to create a business book that will be [http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116365019587024790-rUBDTb7KgX8kUBQ8TvNE2TjcvCc_20061215.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top authored and edited using wiki processes] by an online community committed to the project. Wikipedia is mentioned as "inspiring" the effort.

In an article about the [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/media/comment/0,,1951840,00.html myriad information and "fact" choices] available in the modern world, Will Hutton, of The Observer, references Wikipedia as a site providing those choices. Stating that "pessimists say that we are living in an era in which objectivity is collapsing, [where you] seek for what you want to be true..." He concludes that "pessimists are right except in one respect - they underestimate the ability of individuals collectively to want to understand, notwithstanding their prejudices and beliefs, and, thus, ultimately the power of truth to win out." He claims that just like China could not resist Wikipedia, western media "cannot resist the demand that we be able to trust them."

• In [http://hurricane.atmos.colostate.edu/Forecasts/2006/nov2006/ their report] on the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, Colorado State University professors Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray credit Wikipedia as being "...very helpful in putting together this tropical cyclone summary."
• A ZDNet blogger refers readers to Wikipedia for background on Electrical discharge machining and Focused ion beam in his [http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/index.php?p=412 post], The world’s smallest drilled hole.

• China reblocks - In addition to the articles mentioned in China reblock, coverage was provided by [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/11/17/china.internet.ap/ CNN]; [http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov17/0,4670,ChinaWikipedia,00.html FOX News]; [http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/Chineselanguage-Wikipedia-reopened-activists/2006/11/16/1163266669357.html The Sydney Morning Herald]; [http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=&storyid=2006-11-16T103458Z_01_PEK60024_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHINA-INTERNET.xml Reuters]; [http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2006/11/18/chinese_cut_off_from_wikipedia/ The Boston Globe] and many others.
• Citizendium - [http://www.gateway.ualberta.ca/view.php?aid=6976 Student Newspaper] from University of Alberta; [http://www.purdueexponent.org/index.php/module/Section/section_id/5/?module=article&story_id=3038 Student Newspaper] from Purdue University; and CBS-8 in San Diego [http://www.kfmb.com/features/special_assignment/story.php?id=70620 interviewed Sanger] and mentioned that Wikipedia "was launched right here in San Diego."

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20 In the news

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