rational geekery

The march of online information seems unstoppable. In the news today it was reported that a peer review has checked articles from Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, against ‘old-media’ stalwart Encyclopaedia Britannica and found that the new net-based alternative is almost as accurate.

From Al Jazeera: -

The findings were published in an online article on Wednesday which, according to its author, was the first time peer review had been used to compare the two encylopaedias.

Jimmy Wales, who founded Florida-based Wikipedia in 2001, said: “We’re very pleased with the results and we’re hoping it will focus people’s attention on the overall level of our work, which is pretty good.”

Experts who reviewed the articles found that the average scientific entry in Wikipedia contained four errors or omissions, while Britannica had three.

I remember spending hours in libraries and paying endless late-book payments as I ploughed through my university degree; I cannot comprehend how much web-based information helps modern students. Search engines will filter copious amounts of data, Wikipedia will provide free access to articles covering obscure subjects, and news archives are a click away.

While with all new opportunities comes the greater chance of plagiarism, one cannot deny the internet has pulled down barriers to students thirsty for knowledge.

This report follows a similar article in The Guardian a few months ago:

Anthony Julius on the TS Eliot entry

It’s not terrible. But then I wouldn’t have thought of using Wikipedia as a serious reference source.

No glaring inaccuracies jump out at me. It doesn’t list my book in the bibliography, but there are plenty of other useful links. The Waste Land is highlighted and when I click on it, a separate entry for the book pops up. There’s a Four Quartets bit, too, and all the plays. And when I click on the year 1922, I get a page telling me what else happened that year. Eliot is at the centre of a whole web of other references.

It’s purely factual and not in any way analytical, but then that’s all you want from this sort of thing.

Overall mark: 6/10

· Anthony Julius is author of TS Eliot, Anti-Semitism and Literary Form