Wikipedia As The New Age Encyclopedia

chillibreeze writer — Meghna Mukerjee

"Wikipedia"- the name itself sounds new age! A few qualities that come to mind when one uses the term "new age" are quick, innovative, easily accessible, available instantly, adaptable, wide coverage and efficient. Can we consider Wikipedia to be a "new age" product?

Wikipedia, a "new age" product?

What is Wikipedia? It is the free online encyclopedia, open to access and editing by anyone visiting its website.

Wikipedia was founded on January 15, 2001 by Jimmy Wales. It was a spin-off of Nupedia, an expert-written online encyclopedia. Wikipedia was the result of the need to have a more manageable system. Wikipedia uses Wiki, from the Hawaiian ‘Wiki Wiki’ meaning "quick", editing software to make editing an easier and more collaborative effort. Thus, Wikipedia was founded to make an existing project more accessible and efficient. Wikipedia also includes some novel concepts and features.

Here are some of them:

Making the content of Wikipedia freely accessible makes accessibility to Wikipedia easy. Wikipedia is funded by donations.
Wikipedia is quick. You type in the keywords and get the information you need instantly.
A unique feature of Wikipedia is that almost all of its articles are open to editing by any visitors to the website. You do not need any qualifications or credentials to edit Wikipedia.
Modifications to articles of Wikipedia by registered users are updated instantly. Unregistered users can submit their modifications to the "sandbox". This ensures that latest developments in any field of life do not go unnoticed. If any errors are brought to light, they are instantly corrected.
Wikipedia incorporates the views of editors from all over the world making its scope global.
Wikipedia is available in many language editions. This broadens its scope and coverage. People are able to edit Wikipedia in their own languages.

These features make Wikipedia a product of “new age" requirements, but can Wikipedia actually match up to the "traditional encyclopedia"? Is Wikipedia as accurate as say the Encyclopedia Britannica?

The "traditional encyclopedia"

The Encyclopedia Britannica is considered to be the source of all information. It is essentially a collection of facts. Experts are responsible for the compilation of this encyclopedia and strictly regulate its contents. A lot of research goes into the compilation of the encyclopedia. This makes it a reliable and accurate source of information. The facts are included with a neutral view to topics.

Reliability issues of Wikipedia

The reliability of Wikipedia is a debatable issue. The fact that an editor does not have to be qualified to edit Wikipedia makes its information susceptible to the editor's bias, inaccuracy in reporting facts, and speculations. The existing information is also not protected from malicious tampering. Also, no one is answerable for any information posted on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia, a step in the right direction

In all consideration, we do need to keep up with changing times. The "traditional encyclopedia" also has drawbacks when compared with Wikipedia. Updates are not instant and the “traditional encyclopedia” is not freely accessible to all. Latest developments are included in subsequent editions. A lot of time is lost in doing so. Further, a recent study showed that there was not much disparity between the article quality of Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Wikipedia combines features of the "traditional encyclopedia" with "new age" friendly features. There are measures being taken to address some of the reliability issues of Wikipedia. Editors are expected to follow the policy of "neutral point of view". There are volunteers who refresh vandalized pages instantly. "Watchlists” are maintained by editors to keep a check on articles of their interest.

Just as the “traditional encyclopedia” relies on its experts for reliable information, Wikipedia relies on people genuinely interested its aim. As long as the editing of Wikipedia is done with a degree of seriousness and integrity, Wikipedia can be considered as a "new age" encyclopedia.

When compared with the "traditional encyclopedia", Wikipedia is still in its infancy. It is, however, growing at a very fast rate. It has related projects that include features not available in the "traditional encyclopedia". These are:

Wikibooks, a project that includes free textbooks.
Wikinews, a project that includes free news.
Wikiquote, a project that includes free quotations.
Wikisource, a project that includes free library.
Wikispecies, a project that includes free directory of life.
Wiktionary, a project that includes free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons, which is a repository of shared images, sound, and video to be used by all related projects and Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Meta-Wiki, which is used to plan and coordinate all projects.

Wikipedia has already gained popularity because of its accessibility. It is a collection of facts and a dynamic source of reference. With almost a million registered users and over a million article contributions, it is growing rapidly. The "new age" is all about progress and Wikipedia is a step forward. Given some time to work out reliability issues, Wikipedia should be on par with the "traditional encyclopedia" and is the "new age" encyclopedia.

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article.

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—About our writer:

A happy-go-lucky, eternally optimistic, and very determined person.

Meghna says, "my strength is my caring, supportive, and slightly crazy family."

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