Posted by Duncan on August 02, 2008 at 12:39:44 user Duncan.
In Reply to: Re: On Wikis and Blogs (was Arthur Ransome Wikia) posted by Mike Dennis on August 01, 2008 at 16:15:59:
I take your point Mike, but I suspect this is less true of Wikis than some other internet sources, for the very reason that they are constantly edited by a wide range of people.
I am as frustrated as anyone by the over-use of Wikis by researchers (and I say this as a lecturer - a lot of universities say Wikipedia shouldn't be included in bibliographies, though for the reason I'm about to give, I don't really think that's a sensible way forward - I would say internet sources should always be a minority of sources in academic research).
The problem is, if a student or pupil is to use google (rather than Wikipedia) they access a much wider range of source material which does not have the quality control that is provided by 'the committee'. As such people can stumble across an article on David Icke's website, read the long list of references and recommendations from Dr X and Professor Y and assume that this is an acceptable source. While a Wikipedia article might (at worse) include a reference to such 'minority' sources, it is likely to be a much more balanced article.
I have come across Wikipedia articles that are not so balanced - you get some, particularly about individuals, that have been set up to criticise somebody, and - as yet - the bile has not been tempered by others. This - as someone else pointed out elsewhere - is a problem with sources. All sources, actually, not just secondary sources. (Someone's diary, for example, would be an excellent primary soruce for someone researching that person's life, but - on its own - is likely to ignore that person's mistakes, and interpret most facts in their favour!)
In other words, any one of us could have written an series of articles on Arthur Ransome (many of us have!) that could be accessed by people using 'google' or whatever (or from reading accessing Mixed Moss from an archive, etc. - the fact that it's electronic is not a definitive point). But you may read an article by me about 'Ransome the Socialist' and vehemently disagree with me. On a Wiki you can write 'However...' So it's a useful thing, and I'm quite enthusiastic about this new addition!