I used both dogpile.com and ixquick.com (an idea I pretty much stole from Lauren) because I wanted to see if the results would be different or the same on the two search engines. These engines search a variety of search engines at the same time, so I figured the links I got would be the best. While there was some variety (esp. dealing with which article was first, second, etc), I chose sites that we listed on both search engines.
I used the terms "wikipedia controversy"
http://micheladrien.blogspot.com/2005/12/following-wikipedia-controversy.html
This link is to Michael Adrien's blog (bloggers unite!!). According to the blog webpage (http://micheladrien.blogspot.com/2005/12/following-wikipedia-controversy.html) he is a "former news researcher/journalist and web producer, reference librarian in Ottawa, Canada" and his purpose is to write "a purely personal blog for the purposes of sharing information about library issues and legal research."
The blog is posted on blogger.com (yeah...what we're are posting on lol) and is funded by Google.com. While this is obviously a source that isn't necessarily academic and has no editors/fact checkers, etc, the blog basically constitutes an intro and then links to other resources that focus around the controversy of the biography of John Seigenthaler Sr. Since the last update was in 2005, the content is relatively outdated, but at the same time provides links to a variety of articles, including a link to an article written by Seigenthaler himself.
Many of the articles he links to are about the Seigenthaler controversy; there are also links about whether or not Wikipedia is protected from libel suits. And there are links that praise Wikipedia. I feel that there is atleast some balance between the articles, but it's mostly in favor of a negative impression of Wikipedia, esp. since the blogger had the ability to pick and choose what articles he wanted posted. At the bottom of the blog, you can choose to see other blogs Adrien has posted about Wikipedia, which seem to follow the same structure as this one.
We would have to look at a variety of other sources to get the full story surrounding this controversy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essjay_controversy
This is a wikipedia page that talks about how one of it's editors, Essjay, was found to have falsified his academic record to Wikipedia. As in, this is an example of how ANYONE can edit Wikipedia. The information is very recent as it was last updated on Jan. 21, 2009. The site is owned, operated, and funded by the WikiMedia Foundation, Inc.
"The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. The Wikimedia Foundation operates some of the largest collaboratively edited reference projects in the world, including Wikipedia, the fourth most visited website in the world" (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home).
While the article seems to portray the information in an unbiased way, we must still be careful since this is a posting about a Wikipedia controversy by Wikipedia itself. More information about it can be found in news sites, such as the NY times.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
First research steps (aka first posting)
I used ixquick.com because it allowed me to search multiple engines at once to (hopefull) narrow done to the most helpful sites. I used the search terms “wikipedia,” “wikipedia works” and “wiki works.”
“Wikipedia” obviously popped about dozens of sites from wikipedia.org and I chose to avoid those for now to see what information other sites had.
“Wikipedia works” found me this site:
On the website http://howwikipediaworks.com/ the complete book “How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It” can be found. It was written by Phoebe Ayers, Charles Matthews, and Ben Yates and is funded by No Starch Press. Their biographies are available on the publisher’s (No Starch Press) website.
The mission of No Starch Press (http://nostarch.com/): “No Starch Press seeks to make computing accessible to a broad audience of technophiles and novices alike, and our loyal readers appreciate our unique points of view, our straightforward presentation, and our fearless approach to the complex world of technology.”
The information is current as the book was published in 2008. The site provides information on what type of articles are on Wikipedia to the history of Wikipedia to how to edit Wikipedia, etc. This site provides A LOT of information, but it only has a small section on the sorts of controversy that might arose from Wikipedia use, and decides instead to focus on the structure and technical stuff. I think searching for articles that discuss more of these controversies should suffice. It’s very information, which also makes it rather long.
“Wiki works” found me this:
The website http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm/printable contains an article written by Marshall Brain, who created the site (How Stuff Works) that the article is found on and has a BA in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters degree in computer science from North Carolina State University. How Stuff Works is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications (http://corporate.discovery.com/our-company/). I could not find when the article was published.
The mission of How Stuff Works (http://www.howstuffworks.com/about-hsw.htm): “From car engines to search engines, from cell phones to stem cells, and thousands of subjects in between, HowStuffWorks has it covered. No topic is too big or too small for our expert editorial staff to unmask ... or for you to understand. In addition to comprehensive articles, our helpful graphics and informative videos walk you through every topic clearly, simply and objectively. Our premise is simple: Demystify the world and do it in a simple, clear-cut way that anyone can understand.”
The site provides background information about wikis as well as information on how to work with them. It also constantly refers to Wikipedia itself. Unfortunately, at the very bottom of the page it reveals that wikipedia.com is the source for the article. Needless to say that makes the information biased, but at the same time it is still useful for background information.
It also provides a video featuring Jimmy Wales, who created Wikipedia.
It provides these sites as other ways to get information:
Wikipedia.org
WikiWikiWeb
Java-Source.net: Open Source Wiki Engines in Java
SwitchWiki
FCW.com: Wikis find role in community governance
“Wikipedia” obviously popped about dozens of sites from wikipedia.org and I chose to avoid those for now to see what information other sites had.
“Wikipedia works” found me this site:
On the website http://howwikipediaworks.com/ the complete book “How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It” can be found. It was written by Phoebe Ayers, Charles Matthews, and Ben Yates and is funded by No Starch Press. Their biographies are available on the publisher’s (No Starch Press) website.
The mission of No Starch Press (http://nostarch.com/): “No Starch Press seeks to make computing accessible to a broad audience of technophiles and novices alike, and our loyal readers appreciate our unique points of view, our straightforward presentation, and our fearless approach to the complex world of technology.”
The information is current as the book was published in 2008. The site provides information on what type of articles are on Wikipedia to the history of Wikipedia to how to edit Wikipedia, etc. This site provides A LOT of information, but it only has a small section on the sorts of controversy that might arose from Wikipedia use, and decides instead to focus on the structure and technical stuff. I think searching for articles that discuss more of these controversies should suffice. It’s very information, which also makes it rather long.
“Wiki works” found me this:
The website http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm/printable contains an article written by Marshall Brain, who created the site (How Stuff Works) that the article is found on and has a BA in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters degree in computer science from North Carolina State University. How Stuff Works is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications (http://corporate.discovery.com/our-company/). I could not find when the article was published.
The mission of How Stuff Works (http://www.howstuffworks.com/about-hsw.htm): “From car engines to search engines, from cell phones to stem cells, and thousands of subjects in between, HowStuffWorks has it covered. No topic is too big or too small for our expert editorial staff to unmask ... or for you to understand. In addition to comprehensive articles, our helpful graphics and informative videos walk you through every topic clearly, simply and objectively. Our premise is simple: Demystify the world and do it in a simple, clear-cut way that anyone can understand.”
The site provides background information about wikis as well as information on how to work with them. It also constantly refers to Wikipedia itself. Unfortunately, at the very bottom of the page it reveals that wikipedia.com is the source for the article. Needless to say that makes the information biased, but at the same time it is still useful for background information.
It also provides a video featuring Jimmy Wales, who created Wikipedia.
It provides these sites as other ways to get information:
Wikipedia.org
WikiWikiWeb
Java-Source.net: Open Source Wiki Engines in Java
SwitchWiki
FCW.com: Wikis find role in community governance
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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