Saturday, October 27, 2007

Thing 16: Wacky Wikis

In checking out this stuff about wikis, the thing that keeps popping in my head is the "editable by anyone" aspect. As a liberrian, I think I inherently have a problem with this; I mean, after all, isn't the main problem with internet info the fact that anyone can put stuff the web? But I suppose, on second thought, that there is a difference between wikis and ordinary internet pages, and that is the fact that in a wiki anyone can edit anyone else's info, which is not the case with yer standard web page. So at least there is some sort of layman's peer review going on, which may make info on a wiki more reliable.

However, I'm afraid I simply don't see wikis being all that great as, say, reference sources specifically because the fact remains that you don't know who's posting or editing info. For this reason, I think wikis are fantastic for things like subject guides, event guides, meeting spaces, even community journals, but not (in my mind) for hard, accurate information- except, perhaps, if the wiki only featured input from trained professional in whatever field.

So, bottom line: Wikis good for access to info, not so good for info itself. 'Nuff said.

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