Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Wikipedia...

Wikipedia is another proof that the internet will snuff out any other existing encyclopedia out there, whether in book form or software. =) Sales of Encarta and Brittanica are going to suffer.

Wikipedia is a free internet encyclopedia that relies on everybody to contribute. Unlike the normal "Phd. or higher" requirement to contribute to encyclopedias, anybody can write, edit or update any article in the Wikipedia! Through Wiki technology, anybody can click on the "edit" button and contribute to Wikipedia regardless of Phd or not... =) So far the Wikipedia has over 299,409 articles in English and there are 186 languages being used in the Wikipedia, including Malay with 2555 articles. =)

So far, the only article I could say I really contributed is the Bookcrossing article. I just don't know much about the others... =P

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Um...it's because Wikipedia depends on "everybody" to contribute that sometimes make it less reliable.

It's is a great tool to have - I use it all the time. But I doubt it will or should replace other encyclopedias like Encarta and Brittanica.

Just my two cents :)

Resident

Andy said...

Yeah, but then there's the price factor. These online encyclopedias are basically free, compared to the hundereds of Ringgit for Encarta or Britannica.

The realiability of articles isn't a big concern imho because if the person doesn't know much about that subject, then how is he/she going to write it? =P

mark said...

Wiki pedia can be used as a template to check any important info, say..when doing a report. Always dauble check your source with other journals, books or credible online resource :)

Andy said...

Kurang Asam, you're here! =D

Yeah, I suppose you're right, but I don't rely on a single source for my info... =)

Anonymous said...

Ah, I finally know what the Wikipedia is! :D

Messy Christian (messychrisian.blogs.com)

Andy said...

There's always something new to learn every day! =)