Wikipedia on the radio

[eub]

The just-broadcast "Open Source" (an NPR program) was about Wikipedia, with Jimbo Wales and some requisite critics (plus Simon Winchester). One said sensible things, like that a naive user always has the chance of hitting a bogus edit, and things that were sensible given misunderstanding of how Wikipedia works (it is not actually an anarchy, and its "NPOV" isn't a single objective POV, both of which are easy to mistake, but sheesh, maybe there should be an "Common Criticisms of Wikipedia" page for people to read before they go on national radio).

The other was odd. She says that Wikipedia's existence makes it difficult for her to teach her undergraduate students how to think critically, because they see un-bylined articles and 1) figure that they must be Absolute Truth, and 2) figure that it's okay to plagiarize from them.

Comments

[beaq.livejournal.com]

Garg! I meant to listen to that. Thanks for the reminder. I might go to the stream.

[cellio]

That second one is odd. She should be teaching her students that anything that looks authoritative but contains no verifiable sources should not be relied upon. She ought to be able to demonstrate that easily, if she's any good as a teacher.