[Wikipedia-l] de:Wikipedia edges out Britannica (among others)

Fri Oct 15 13:52:06 UTC 2004

The de: Wikipedia recently underwent its second professional content
test, this time overseen by Die Zeit, Germany's leading weekly
newspaper.  And friends, this "popular dispenser of knowledge on the
Internet", this "desert of text", is HOT.  While it is "completely
without [multi]media" and "does not support complex search queries",
it "stands in first place when it comes to text content," receiving
top aggregate marks in three broad content categories -- Natural
Science and Technology, Humanities and Social Science, and Culture --
matched only by Encarta Professional.  Moreover, its "lead in current
events is a mile wide".

This review was longer than the c't review -- seven terms in each of
21 fields -- but the article was shorter and less detailed.  Die ZEIT
was kind enough to extend the comparison to include both smaller
German encyclopedias (Data Becker, aimed at a younger audience, and
Universallexikon) and the English-language Britannica 2005 DVD. 
Britannica, she of the "legendary 32-volume set,"  took top marks in
the sciences, but fell down when it came to sports and, most notably,
current events.  All the same, "the 165,000 well-sorted Web links
alone are worth the price".

As to that perennial bugbear, editorial responsibility, the reviewers
tackle it with bold eloquence:

    "Those concerned with the quality of [Wikipedia] articles, 
   because no established editorship takes responsibility for
   them, can rest at ease: we had most of the Wikipedia articles 
   we examined judged separately by specialists in their 
   respective fields, and they were thoroughly done. The texts 
   still have gaps here and there, but they make up for it 
   elsewhere with precise and detailed descriptions. And
   everyone can engage himself as a gap-filler: clicking on the 
   link "edit this article" makes the reader an author."

It's enough to make me want to be a first-time author all over again.

Original article : http://www.zeit.de/2004/43/C-Enzyklop_8adien-Test
(English translation available onli^B^B^B^B on request.)

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+sj+