Read between the lines of Wikipedia
Wikipedia has been recognized as one of the most intriguing reference sites available. It’s a great starting point for all sorts of research. It’s also imperfect, the result of collective editing by anyone with an axe to grind or a résumé to refashion.
This week’s edition of Mixed Nuts looks at assorted spin-offs and variations on the Wikipedia model.
• Numberpedia.org. The name pretty much explains the goal, to be a visual online collection of the world’s most relevant data. Some of the data is plain fun: average age at which U.S. rock stars die (42). Or, iPod sales per quarter (10 million). Some of the numbers are presented in chart or graph form. Others are just lists. Like Wikipedia, these data sets originate from everyday people. So not everything is vetted. Use with caution.
• Wikiscanner (http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/) is a tool that lets anyone see who’s edited or modified Wikipedia entries. Care to see which entries have been edited by the Republican Party? The Democratic Party? Fox News? The Spokesman-Review?
Cal Tech graduate student Virgil Griffith developed this site to expose the shameless self-promotion and ego-massaging that infests Wikipedia. The site lets you search by organization name to find results. Or if you have an IP address range, that option also produces the same results. It may sound geeky, but this is a wonderful instance of how transparent the Wikipedia markup system is.
• Wiki Lab (at http://trust.cse.ucsc.edu/). Folks at the University of California Santa Cruz are testing a way to measure the accuracy and reliability of entries to Wikipedia. This site offers some test pages, using a color-coded scheme that highlights changes in Wikipedia entries and then rates their trustworthiness. It’s an ingenious idea, even if it’s really rough and in early beta development. Wikipedia’s managers say they’re considering adding the tool to its services.
Authors of articles are judged based on several criteria, the main one being how long a particular entry remains unchanged or built-upon on Wikipedia.
• Wiki.Answers.com. A fairly low-brow wiki spin-off, this one is essentially a search engine which also allows for content editing and modification. We asked at what temperature does water freeze? Answer: “Zero degrees or lower. Duh.” Next question: How tall is the Eiffel Tower? Answer: “About 300 meters.”