[Wikipedia-l] Allow multiple entries for one topic

Thu Jan 5 12:18:27 UTC 2006

This is an excellent idea. Rather than try to cram all points of view  
into one article, how about loosening up and allowing several  
articles with differing points of view or level of detail?

This idea has been discussed before, but is worth another look.

Fred

On Jan 5, 2006, at 3:05 AM, Troas wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Inspired by the article about Wikipedia in Nature, I have recently  
> made some
> contributions to Wikipedia in my field of expertise. Based on this
> experience with Wikipedia, I would like to suggest a change to the  
> structure
> of Wikipedia. I'm not sure whether my suggestion has been discussed
> previously. I have scanned e-mails in the list from the last months  
> and
> couldn't find anything related, but apologize if I simply reiterate  
> an older
> discussion.
>
> Here's my suggestion: Allow multiple entries for one topic.
>
> Why? In my opinion, there is no such thing as THE perfect entry  
> about a
> topic or, as a matter of fact, the TRUTH about a topic. So, why  
> adopt one of
> the shortcomings of printed encyclopedias? Why not allow users to read
> different entries (and opinions!) about one topic?
>
> An important complement of my suggestion is the introduction of a  
> rating
> system. How could this work? I would suggest a rating system  
> consisting of
> three parts. After reading an article, you can:
> 1. rate the quality of the entry on a, say, 6-point rating scale
> 2. rate yourself as an expert, amateur, or layperson in the field  
> the entry
> belongs to
> 3. enter strengths or weaknesses of this entry in a comment textbox  
> (not
> obligatory)
>
> When you access an entry, you would then first get a list of existing
> entries with their respective ratings – separately for expert,  
> amateur, and
> layperson ratings. Based on these ratings, you then choose the  
> article you
> want to read.
>
> Open questions: Is there a danger of too many articles for one  
> topic? Should
> there be a limit of parallel articles? If yes, how do you get in new
> articles if this limit is reached? (Possible solution: You can  
> write a new
> article and "challenge" the worst existing article. If your article  
> gets
> higher ratings in the next, say, 4 weeks, your article replaces the  
> older
> one.)
>
> Best,
> Troas
>
>
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