[Wikipedia-l] Re: A WikiJamSession Fantasy

Thu Jul 22 08:46:16 UTC 2004

Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales <jwales at ...> writes:
[cut]
> So, I had this idea for something we could do as a part of a drive
> towards 1.0.  We could get permission from a library or libraries in
> some densely populated centers around the world to gain admission
> during a holiday or weekend that they would normally be closed.  We'd
> set up a wireless broadband network and bring together as many people
> as possible to work together day and night in a fun atmosphere to fact
> check articles and process them for final publication in a CD-ROM,
> with an eye towards print as well of course.

This can be fun and good for PR and community building but its usefulness is 
doubtful in the current situation. 

Verifying information is one thing. Making sure it is stored correctly and 
stays correctly is something else. 

Now there is no system to indicate that the information in a article is 
verified. And also none to make sure that correct, verified information is not 
changed at some point.

Off course that is the concept of Wikipedia that the community is watching the 
edits and so makes sure that there is no nonsense are included.

But the point of verifying information is to make sure the information is 
correct. When you put the verifyed information free again in the wild-wiki you 
have increased the general likelihood that the information is correct but you 
do not get really a trustworthy encyclopedia.

Also the idea of voting for articles will only increase the general quality of 
Wikipedia but not really get trustworthy articles.

How to do it i do not know. But making a big efford in verifying seems a waste 
of work in the current setup. 

I do have a idea for a temporary solution. 

Create a "Fact Sheet"-option. A option to attach a special page the contains 
verifyed basic information to a article. It should be in a form format. Whit a 
drop-down menu where you select the profile of the subject and fields for 
specific indisputable facts. 

This should be done by the person who has done the verification of the 
information. Because it should be absolute correct information and to guaranty 
that the information stays correct modifying should only be possible by the 
original verificator. If not there is no point of creating the fact sheet. 

That verificator (senior-Wikipedians only?) will connect his good name and 
reputation to the information in the fact sheet.

Off course there can always be a discussion about it and somebody should be 
abel to overrule the verificator but that should be a rare exception.

Whit this system you still do not have a system for getting a realy trustworthy 
article but you have at least the possibility for puting the most basic 
information save so you can check easy something like of it is true that the 
Zeppelin Hindenburg exploded on 6 may 1937. It is a step to a verified 
wikipedia.

Changing the software for this is a lot of work. But looking up information 
because you need to be sure also.

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[[wikipedia:nl:gebruiker:walter]]