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>>Maybe I'm just being a curmudgeonly stick in the mud,
Hello. Well, the first step to rehabilitation is admitting it....!
>> but honestly I've
>>never quite trusted anything I read on Wikipedia, precisely _because_
>>any idiot that can make an online account can add, change, or edit
I think that's a very pessimistic way of looking at it. Why not say "it
must be great because it's tapping into the expertise of millions of
people".
In my experience, there are more good people out there than idiots.
<snippage>
>>For those that use Wikipedia, how reliable and up-to-date do you find it
>>to be?
It's mostly very good. I'd challenge anybody to find a topic that
doesn't have something sensible written. Look up your home town, your
favourite root vegetable, or just some random topic
Occasionally the server is a bit slow or gets slashdotted.
>>Is it the first place you go to check for a term or item that is
>>new to you?
Yep. Or Google, which often takes you there anyway.
Do you double-check information you find on Wikipedia to
>>make sure that whoever wrote the entry really knows what he/she is
>>talking about?
No, loads of other people do that. Depends how critical the information
is, of course.
I've been editing in there for some time, and there is a culture where
different people have different roles. Me, I like to add new
information, and I like to edit for structure. Other people, they never
add anything new, they have alerts set up so that when something new
goes in (in a topic they like) they go and proofread / fact-check it.
Other people, all they do is go around creating links in topics. Others
like spellchecking and grammar. Others like to tweak the layout. It's
good because everyone does what they're good at.
It's a very good (and proven) model for building technical documentation.
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