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id="toc-Jimmy_Wales_and_the_Sausage_Factory-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-‘Behind’_the_scenes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#‘Behind’_the_scenes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>‘Behind’ the scenes</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-‘Behind’_the_scenes-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle ‘Behind’ the scenes subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-‘Behind’_the_scenes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Wikipedia:_a_work-in-progress" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Wikipedia:_a_work-in-progress"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Wikipedia: a work-in-progress</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Wikipedia:_a_work-in-progress-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Roles_and_rules" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Roles_and_rules"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Roles and rules</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Roles_and_rules-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Technological_features" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Technological_features"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3</span> <span>Technological features</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Technological_features-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-More_on_culture" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#More_on_culture"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.4</span> <span>More on culture</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-More_on_culture-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Wisdom_of_the_crowds?_Smart_mobs?_Mobocracy?" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Wisdom_of_the_crowds?_Smart_mobs?_Mobocracy?"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.5</span> <span>Wisdom of the crowds? Smart mobs? Mobocracy?</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Wisdom_of_the_crowds?_Smart_mobs?_Mobocracy?-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Discussion" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Discussion"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Discussion</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Discussion-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Resources_and_further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Resources_and_further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Resources and further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Resources_and_further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading">Inside Wikipedia: Difference between revisions</h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="This article exist only in this language. 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class='oo-ui-layout oo-ui-labelElement oo-ui-fieldLayout oo-ui-fieldLayout-align-left' data-ooui='{"_":"OO.ui.FieldLayout","fieldWidget":{"tag":"mw-diffPage-inline-toggle-switch"},"$overlay":true,"label":"Inline","title":"Switches between inline format and two-column format"}'><div class='oo-ui-fieldLayout-body'><span class='oo-ui-fieldLayout-header'><label title='Switches between inline format and two-column format' id='ooui-php-2' class='oo-ui-labelElement-label'>Inline</label></span><div class='oo-ui-fieldLayout-field'><div id='mw-diffPage-inline-toggle-switch' title='Switches between inline format and two-column format' aria-checked='false' tabindex='0' role='switch' aria-labelledby='ooui-php-2' class='oo-ui-widget oo-ui-widget-enabled oo-ui-toggleWidget oo-ui-toggleWidget-off oo-ui-toggleSwitchWidget' data-ooui='{"_":"OO.ui.ToggleSwitchWidget","href":"\/w\/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&diff=prev&oldid=500462&diff-type=inline","value":false,"title":"Switches between inline format and two-column format"}'><span class='oo-ui-toggleSwitchWidget-glow'></span><a href='/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&diff=prev&oldid=500462&diff-type=inline'><span class='oo-ui-toggleSwitchWidget-grip'></span></a></div></div></div></div></div></div><table class="diff diff-type-table diff-contentalign-left diff-editfont-monospace" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr class="diff-title" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" class="diff-otitle diff-side-deleted"><div id="mw-diff-otitle1"><strong><a href="/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&oldid=455952" title="Inside Wikipedia">Revision as of 11:43, 15 July 2009</a> <span class="mw-diff-edit"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&action=edit&oldid=455952" title="Inside Wikipedia">edit</a></span><span class="mw-diff-timestamp" data-timestamp="2009-07-15T11:43:51Z"></span></strong></div><div id="mw-diff-otitle2"><a href="/wiki/User:Cormaggio" class="mw-userlink" title="User:Cormaggio" data-mw-revid="455952"><bdi>Cormaggio</bdi></a> <span class="mw-usertoollinks">(<a href="/wiki/User_talk:Cormaggio" class="mw-usertoollinks-talk" title="User talk:Cormaggio">discuss</a> | <a href="/wiki/Special:Contributions/Cormaggio" class="mw-usertoollinks-contribs" title="Special:Contributions/Cormaggio">contribs</a>)</span><div class="mw-diff-usermetadata"><div class="mw-diff-userroles"></div><div class="mw-diff-usereditcount"><span>3,738</span> edits</div></div></div><div id="mw-diff-otitle3"> <span class="comment comment--without-parentheses">a bit more rejigging</span></div><div id="mw-diff-otitle5"></div><div id="mw-diff-otitle4"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&diff=prev&oldid=455952" title="Inside Wikipedia" id="differences-prevlink">← Older edit</a></div></td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-ntitle diff-side-added"><div id="mw-diff-ntitle1"><strong><a href="/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&oldid=500462" title="Inside Wikipedia">Revision as of 15:39, 9 November 2009</a> <span class="mw-diff-edit"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&action=edit&oldid=500462" title="Inside Wikipedia">edit</a></span><span class="mw-diff-timestamp" data-timestamp="2009-11-09T15:39:48Z"></span> <span class="mw-diff-undo"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&action=edit&undoafter=455952&undo=500462" title=""Undo" reverts this edit and opens the edit form in preview mode. It allows adding a reason in the summary.">undo</a></span></strong></div><div id="mw-diff-ntitle2"><a href="/wiki/User:Cormaggio" class="mw-userlink" title="User:Cormaggio" data-mw-revid="500462"><bdi>Cormaggio</bdi></a> <span class="mw-usertoollinks">(<a href="/wiki/User_talk:Cormaggio" class="mw-usertoollinks-talk" title="User talk:Cormaggio">discuss</a> | <a href="/wiki/Special:Contributions/Cormaggio" class="mw-usertoollinks-contribs" title="Special:Contributions/Cormaggio">contribs</a>)</span><div class="mw-diff-usermetadata"><div class="mw-diff-userroles"></div><div class="mw-diff-usereditcount"><span>3,738</span> edits</div></div></div><div id="mw-diff-ntitle3"> <span class="comment comment--without-parentheses">adding Seigenthaler link - other minor changes</span></div><div id="mw-diff-ntitle5"></div><div id="mw-diff-ntitle4"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&diff=next&oldid=500462" title="Inside Wikipedia" id="differences-nextlink">Newer edit →</a></div></td> </tr><tr> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 9:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 9:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>Writing in an article called "The faith-based encyclopedia", former Encyclopedia Britannica editor, Robert McHenry criticised Wikipedia as unreliable, and likened it to a "public toilet", in which anyone can do whatever they want to it, including vandalise it (McHenry, 2004). Around the same time, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said that Wikipedia is "like a sausage: you might like the taste of it, but you don't necessarily want to see how it's made" (quoted in Waldman, 2004). Jimmy talks about the ''product'' here, rather than the process - though you can see him talking about the process in a video in the resources section.</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>Writing in an article called "The faith-based encyclopedia", former Encyclopedia Britannica editor, Robert McHenry criticised Wikipedia as unreliable, and likened it to a "public toilet", in which anyone can do whatever they want to it, including vandalise it (McHenry, 2004). Around the same time, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said that Wikipedia is "like a sausage: you might like the taste of it, but you don't necessarily want to see how it's made" (quoted in Waldman, 2004). Jimmy talks about the ''product'' here, rather than the process - though you can see him talking about the process in a video in the resources section.</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><br /></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td> <td class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted"><div>However, from an educational angle, seeing the process gives us a way of evaluating how Wikipedia works, and how relevant it is for our needs. In order to do this, Jimmy Wales refers to a type of ‘behind the scenes’ look, known as a "sausage factory tour" (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">eg</del>. "a sausage factory tour of the legal system".) The following mail from David Gerard to the English Wikipedia mailing list links the question of process with the reliability of the product:</div></td> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td> <td class="diff-addedline diff-side-added"><div>However, from an educational angle, seeing the process gives us a way of evaluating how Wikipedia works, and how relevant it is for our needs. In order to do this, Jimmy Wales refers to a type of ‘behind the scenes’ look, known as a "sausage factory tour" (<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">e.g</ins>. "a sausage factory tour of the legal system".) The following mail from David Gerard to the English Wikipedia mailing list links the question of process with the reliability of the product:</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><br /></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>:''"The scary thing is not how unreliable or not Wikipedia is (and no-one's more aware of that than those of us writing and editing it), but how unreliable everything else is. Anyone who's ever been quoted in a newspaper could only give a hollow laugh at the idea of newspapers automatically being considered "reliable sources." Encyclopedia Britannica is quite the sausage factory, the difference being you can't see inside theirs as you can with ours."''</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>:''"The scary thing is not how unreliable or not Wikipedia is (and no-one's more aware of that than those of us writing and editing it), but how unreliable everything else is. Anyone who's ever been quoted in a newspaper could only give a hollow laugh at the idea of newspapers automatically being considered "reliable sources." Encyclopedia Britannica is quite the sausage factory, the difference being you can't see inside theirs as you can with ours."''</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>:[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2008-February/089985.html permalink]</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>:[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2008-February/089985.html permalink]</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><br /></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td> <td class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted"><div>So, the first <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">things</del> to be aware of Wikipedia is that it isn’t perfect (though it is often very good, and sometimes excellent), but that it is '''transparent''' – it is possible to see ''how it is constructed'' (though see Finkelstein’s critique in resources section). It’s worth noting here that Wikipedia is open about warning people to be careful when using Wikipedia for academic work – see: [[w:Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia]]. But even though Wikipedia is transparent, it is also very complex, and quite difficult to understand – so this page will try to give a flavour of what happens behind what you might immediately see when you look up information on Wikipedia - in a ‘sausage factory tour’ (though we’ll leave the public toilet out of it)...</div></td> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td> <td class="diff-addedline diff-side-added"><div>So, the first <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">thing</ins> to be aware of Wikipedia is that it isn’t perfect (though it is often very good, and sometimes excellent), but that it is '''transparent''' – it is possible to see ''how it is constructed'' (though see Finkelstein’s critique in resources section). It’s worth noting here that Wikipedia is open about warning people to be careful when using Wikipedia for academic work – see: [[w:Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia]]. But even though Wikipedia is transparent, it is also very complex, and quite difficult to understand – so this page will try to give a flavour of what happens behind what you might immediately see when you look up information on Wikipedia - in a ‘sausage factory tour’ (though we’ll leave the public toilet out of it)...</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><br /></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>==‘Behind’ the scenes==</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>==‘Behind’ the scenes==</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 27:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 27:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>===Roles and rules===</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>===Roles and rules===</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>[[Image:Webcomic_xkcd_-_Wikipedian_protester.png|thumb|350px|'Citation needed' - comic strip by Randall Munroe illustrating Wikipedia's policies (and culture)]]</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>[[Image:Webcomic_xkcd_-_Wikipedian_protester.png|thumb|350px|'Citation needed' - comic strip by Randall Munroe illustrating Wikipedia's policies (and culture)]]</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td> <td class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted"><div>There are any number of types of tasks being done on Wikipedia. There are people who write articles (of course), but there are also many people who spend all or most of their time cleaning up articles (see above) - correctign splling and grammer, finding sources for articles (and tidying up reference lists), and addressing bias – or cleaning up structures within Wikipedia, such as its indexing system (using so-called ‘categories’). There are people who scour the wiki’s “recent changes” list, checking for obvious cases of vandalism (eg. deleting pages, or adding obscenities) – and this is dealt with by people who have been chosen by the community to maintain Wikipedia, known as admins (or ‘sysops’), who can delete vandalism pages, and block people from editing temporarily or even permanently. There are people who deal with conflicts between people over articles’ content – mediating disputes between people, and, if necessary, arbitrating over whether a particular person should be blocked from editing because of adding too much biased material, being too hostile with other people, etc. (This, arbitration, is like a mini legal system, with people making statements, citing evidence of how they feel they have been wronged.) There are also people who form taskforces (or ‘WikiProjects’) to develop and improve articles on a given subject (<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">eg</del> all Wikipedia articles related to [[w:Wikipedia:WikiProject Chemistry|Chemistry]] and [[w:Wikipedia:WikiProject History|History]]). Also, some of the work listed above (such as ‘cleanup’ tasks) isn’t done by people, but by pieces of software – or ‘bots’ – written by people to avoid having to carry out repetitive, mundane tasks!</div></td> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td> <td class="diff-addedline diff-side-added"><div>There are any number of types of tasks being done on Wikipedia. There are people who write articles (of course), but there are also many people who spend all or most of their time cleaning up articles (see above) - correctign splling and grammer, finding sources for articles (and tidying up reference lists), and addressing bias – or cleaning up structures within Wikipedia, such as its indexing system (using so-called ‘categories’). There are people who scour the wiki’s “recent changes” list, checking for obvious cases of vandalism (eg. deleting pages, or adding obscenities) – and this is dealt with by people who have been chosen by the community to maintain Wikipedia, known as admins (or ‘sysops’), who can delete vandalism pages, and block people from editing temporarily or even permanently. There are people who deal with conflicts between people over articles’ content – mediating disputes between people, and, if necessary, arbitrating over whether a particular person should be blocked from editing because of adding too much biased material, being too hostile with other people, etc. (This, arbitration, is like a mini legal system, with people making statements, citing evidence of how they feel they have been wronged.) There are also people who form taskforces (or ‘WikiProjects’) to develop and improve articles on a given subject (<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">e.g.</ins> all Wikipedia articles related to [[w:Wikipedia:WikiProject Chemistry|Chemistry]] and [[w:Wikipedia:WikiProject History|History]]). Also, some of the work listed above (such as ‘cleanup’ tasks) isn’t done by people, but by pieces of software – or ‘bots’ – written by people to avoid having to carry out repetitive, mundane tasks!</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><br /></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>It is worth noting that none of the above tasks are carried out by paid staff – all of this is done by volunteers who want to improve Wikipedia, and who consider themselves part of the community. It should also be noted that anyone can take on any of these roles – most roles on Wikipedia are self-selected’ - though some, like admins and the arbitration committee are elected by the community.</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>It is worth noting that none of the above tasks are carried out by paid staff – all of this is done by volunteers who want to improve Wikipedia, and who consider themselves part of the community. It should also be noted that anyone can take on any of these roles – most roles on Wikipedia are self-selected’ - though some, like admins and the arbitration committee are elected by the community.</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 35:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 35:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>===Technological features===</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>===Technological features===</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><br /></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="−"></td> <td class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted"><div>All articles on Wikipedia have an associated discussion page (usually referred to as a '''"talk page"''') – which allow people to discuss aspects of the article, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">eg</del>. how it should present its topic, any problems with bias, whether it could be enhanced by images, etc. In order to keep track of what’s happening on a wiki, there is a '''recent changes''' page which lists all recent changes across the whole wiki (in the English Wikipedia, there are often hundreds of edits each minute), with the most recent first. There are also ways for people to select articles that they are interested in, and to track recent changes just within these articles – this feature is called a '''watchlist'''. (The watchlist becomes a tool to pick up on biased statements, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and</del> more subtle types of vandalism<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">,</del> <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">eg</del>. people adding deliberately false information that appears at first glance to be ok.)</div></td> <td class="diff-marker" data-marker="+"></td> <td class="diff-addedline diff-side-added"><div>All articles on Wikipedia have an associated discussion page (usually referred to as a '''"talk page"''') – which allow people to discuss aspects of the article, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">e.g</ins>. how it should present its topic, any problems with bias, whether it could be enhanced by images, etc. In order to keep track of what’s happening on a wiki, there is a '''recent changes''' page which lists all recent changes across the whole wiki (in the English Wikipedia, there are often hundreds of edits each minute), with the most recent first. There are also ways for people to select articles that they are interested in, and to track recent changes just within these articles – this feature is called a '''watchlist'''. (The watchlist becomes a tool to pick up on biased statements, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">as well as</ins> more subtle types of vandalism <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">- e.g</ins>. people adding deliberately false information that appears at first glance to be ok<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, such as [[w:Wikipedia_biography_controversy|what happened to John Segenthaler]]</ins>.)</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>[[File:Diffreport.jpg|thumb|400px|right|A "diff" allows you to see the difference between two versions of a page.]]</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>[[File:Diffreport.jpg|thumb|400px|right|A "diff" allows you to see the difference between two versions of a page.]]</div></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-deleted"><div>Every time a page is edited, it creates a new ''version'' of a page, and saves it on top of the last version. This means that it is possible to track how an article has been edited through time, and by whom - by looking at the '''"diff"''' between versions of a page. Every single edit and every single version of a page is recorded in the page’s '''history''', which can be found beside the edit button – this is a key component of Wikipedia’s transparency.</div></td> <td class="diff-marker"></td> <td class="diff-context diff-side-added"><div>Every time a page is edited, it creates a new ''version'' of a page, and saves it on top of the last version. This means that it is possible to track how an article has been edited through time, and by whom - by looking at the '''"diff"''' between versions of a page. Every single edit and every single version of a page is recorded in the page’s '''history''', which can be found beside the edit button – this is a key component of Wikipedia’s transparency.</div></td> </tr> </table><hr class='diff-hr' id='mw-oldid' /> <h2 class='diff-currentversion-title'>Revision as of 15:39, 9 November 2009</h2> <div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p><i>Context: This is meant to be a primer for discussion for a Masters level course on ‘emerging technologies in education’, but it could be used or adapted for other contexts.</i> </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Wikipedia-logo-en.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7f/Wikipedia-logo-en.png/100px-Wikipedia-logo-en.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="115" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Wikipedia-logo-en.png 1.5x" data-file-width="135" data-file-height="155" /></a><figcaption>Wikipedia logo</figcaption></figure> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Introduction">Introduction</h2></div> <p>Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia which is editable by anyone – its name is taken from a wiki, which is an editable website. Started in January 2001, it is now by far and away the biggest reference work the world has ever produced (over 12 million articles across over 250 individual language projects; over 2.5 million in the English Wikipedia alone). Wikipedia has attracted its share of controversy – with some people praising its open model, and others shunning it as unreliable. This page/resource is to give an account of what happens 'inside Wikipedia'. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Jimmy_Wales_and_the_Sausage_Factory">Jimmy Wales and the Sausage Factory</h2></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Kielbasa2.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Kielbasa2.jpg/150px-Kielbasa2.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="122" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Kielbasa2.jpg/225px-Kielbasa2.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Kielbasa2.jpg/300px-Kielbasa2.jpg 2x" data-file-width="602" data-file-height="491" /></a><figcaption></figcaption></figure> <p>Writing in an article called "The faith-based encyclopedia", former Encyclopedia Britannica editor, Robert McHenry criticised Wikipedia as unreliable, and likened it to a "public toilet", in which anyone can do whatever they want to it, including vandalise it (McHenry, 2004). Around the same time, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said that Wikipedia is "like a sausage: you might like the taste of it, but you don't necessarily want to see how it's made" (quoted in Waldman, 2004). Jimmy talks about the <i>product</i> here, rather than the process - though you can see him talking about the process in a video in the resources section. </p><p>However, from an educational angle, seeing the process gives us a way of evaluating how Wikipedia works, and how relevant it is for our needs. In order to do this, Jimmy Wales refers to a type of ‘behind the scenes’ look, known as a "sausage factory tour" (e.g. "a sausage factory tour of the legal system".) The following mail from David Gerard to the English Wikipedia mailing list links the question of process with the reliability of the product: </p> <dl><dd><i>"The scary thing is not how unreliable or not Wikipedia is (and no-one's more aware of that than those of us writing and editing it), but how unreliable everything else is. Anyone who's ever been quoted in a newspaper could only give a hollow laugh at the idea of newspapers automatically being considered "reliable sources." Encyclopedia Britannica is quite the sausage factory, the difference being you can't see inside theirs as you can with ours."</i></dd> <dd><a class="external text" href="https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2008-February/089985.html">permalink</a></dd></dl> <p>So, the first thing to be aware of Wikipedia is that it isn’t perfect (though it is often very good, and sometimes excellent), but that it is <b>transparent</b> – it is possible to see <i>how it is constructed</i> (though see Finkelstein’s critique in resources section). It’s worth noting here that Wikipedia is open about warning people to be careful when using Wikipedia for academic work – see: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Researching_with_Wikipedia" class="extiw" title="w:Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia">w:Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia</a>. But even though Wikipedia is transparent, it is also very complex, and quite difficult to understand – so this page will try to give a flavour of what happens behind what you might immediately see when you look up information on Wikipedia - in a ‘sausage factory tour’ (though we’ll leave the public toilet out of it)... </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="‘Behind’_the_scenes"><span id=".E2.80.98Behind.E2.80.99_the_scenes"></span>‘Behind’ the scenes</h2></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Wikipedia:_a_work-in-progress">Wikipedia: a work-in-progress</h3></div> <figure class="mw-halign-center" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Unbalanced_template.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikiversity/en/f/f1/Unbalanced_template.jpg" decoding="async" width="588" height="86" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="588" data-file-height="86" /></a><figcaption>A 'warning' template on Wikipedia</figcaption></figure> <p><br /> Take a look at: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_messages/Cleanup" class="extiw" title="w:Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup">w:Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup</a> - listing an astounding array of ‘templates’ (notices) that are added to Wikipedia articles (or sections of articles), in order to notify people <i>reading</i> that there may be a problem with this article/section, and people <i>editing</i> that there is work to do on this particular article/section. Of course, a reader can become an editor at any time – many people say that the reason they started editing Wikipedia was because they found something that was wrong, or that they didn’t agree with. (Isn’t this itself an interesting model of how knowledge is built or contributed to? Also, what other resources do you know that have a message such as the one above at the top of their pages?) </p><p><br /> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Roles_and_rules">Roles and rules</h3></div> <figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Webcomic_xkcd_-_Wikipedian_protester.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Webcomic_xkcd_-_Wikipedian_protester.png/350px-Webcomic_xkcd_-_Wikipedian_protester.png" decoding="async" width="350" height="190" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Webcomic_xkcd_-_Wikipedian_protester.png 1.5x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="271" /></a><figcaption>'Citation needed' - comic strip by Randall Munroe illustrating Wikipedia's policies (and culture)</figcaption></figure> <p>There are any number of types of tasks being done on Wikipedia. There are people who write articles (of course), but there are also many people who spend all or most of their time cleaning up articles (see above) - correctign splling and grammer, finding sources for articles (and tidying up reference lists), and addressing bias – or cleaning up structures within Wikipedia, such as its indexing system (using so-called ‘categories’). There are people who scour the wiki’s “recent changes” list, checking for obvious cases of vandalism (eg. deleting pages, or adding obscenities) – and this is dealt with by people who have been chosen by the community to maintain Wikipedia, known as admins (or ‘sysops’), who can delete vandalism pages, and block people from editing temporarily or even permanently. There are people who deal with conflicts between people over articles’ content – mediating disputes between people, and, if necessary, arbitrating over whether a particular person should be blocked from editing because of adding too much biased material, being too hostile with other people, etc. (This, arbitration, is like a mini legal system, with people making statements, citing evidence of how they feel they have been wronged.) There are also people who form taskforces (or ‘WikiProjects’) to develop and improve articles on a given subject (e.g. all Wikipedia articles related to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Chemistry" class="extiw" title="w:Wikipedia:WikiProject Chemistry">Chemistry</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_History" class="extiw" title="w:Wikipedia:WikiProject History">History</a>). Also, some of the work listed above (such as ‘cleanup’ tasks) isn’t done by people, but by pieces of software – or ‘bots’ – written by people to avoid having to carry out repetitive, mundane tasks! </p><p>It is worth noting that none of the above tasks are carried out by paid staff – all of this is done by volunteers who want to improve Wikipedia, and who consider themselves part of the community. It should also be noted that anyone can take on any of these roles – most roles on Wikipedia are self-selected’ - though some, like admins and the arbitration committee are elected by the community. </p><p>So, there are working processes in Wikipedia – and these are carried out in relation to <b>policies and guidelines</b>. There are hundreds of policies on Wikipedia (at least in the English Wikipedia) – some central policies including “Neutral Point of View” (NPOV), meaning that articles should be written from an unbiased perspective; “Verifiability”, meaning that articles and statements should be backed up by reliable sources; and “No Original Research”, meaning that statements/claims on Wikipedia must simply report statements/claims from other sources, and cannot be an original analysis or synthesis of a set of statements. (See references section for links.) </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Technological_features">Technological features</h3></div> <p>All articles on Wikipedia have an associated discussion page (usually referred to as a <b>"talk page"</b>) – which allow people to discuss aspects of the article, e.g. how it should present its topic, any problems with bias, whether it could be enhanced by images, etc. In order to keep track of what’s happening on a wiki, there is a <b>recent changes</b> page which lists all recent changes across the whole wiki (in the English Wikipedia, there are often hundreds of edits each minute), with the most recent first. There are also ways for people to select articles that they are interested in, and to track recent changes just within these articles – this feature is called a <b>watchlist</b>. (The watchlist becomes a tool to pick up on biased statements, as well as more subtle types of vandalism - e.g. people adding deliberately false information that appears at first glance to be ok, such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_biography_controversy" class="extiw" title="w:Wikipedia biography controversy">what happened to John Segenthaler</a>.) </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Diffreport.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Diffreport.jpg" decoding="async" width="400" height="289" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="289" /></a><figcaption>A "diff" allows you to see the difference between two versions of a page.</figcaption></figure> <p>Every time a page is edited, it creates a new <i>version</i> of a page, and saves it on top of the last version. This means that it is possible to track how an article has been edited through time, and by whom - by looking at the <b>"diff"</b> between versions of a page. Every single edit and every single version of a page is recorded in the page’s <b>history</b>, which can be found beside the edit button – this is a key component of Wikipedia’s transparency. </p><p>As well as people writing software that works ‘on top’ of Wikipedia (already mentioned), a major point about the technology on which Wikipedia runs is that it is <b>open source</b> – meaning that it can be freely downloaded, distributed, <i>and modified</i> – and that modifications to the software also have to be released with the same freedoms. In other words, if you are technologically capable enough, you can write code for the software, and add functionality to the software that everyone else can use. Similarly, the <i>content</i> of Wikipedia is free to be reused and modified in other contexts (for example, you can use a photo from Wikipedia on the cover of a book you publish, providing you at least say where you got the photo from.) This stance for open source/content has also set a lot of the cultural background to Wikipedia – attracting people interested in making things freely available, outside of the control of ‘big business’ – and people often call this the ‘free culture movement’ (Lessig, 2004). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="More_on_culture">More on culture</h3></div> <p>Wikipedia is based on collaboration, which is based in discussion. Everything on Wikipedia is editable and discussable – though not everything in Wikipedia is discussed, since people are encouraged to <b>“be bold”</b> and just edit (and if someone sees/thinks that someone is acting outside of policy/guidelines, they can bring it up for discussion with that person and/or other members of the community). Whenever there is a decision to be made, it is done by seeking <b>consensus</b> on the issue. A core principle here is <b>civility</b> – to strive to listen to and be patient with others, and to try to <b>“assume good faith”</b>, even if you think they are wrong. This culture of collaboration, discussion, and being both civil and bold can be thought of as composing the <b>"wiki way"</b>. </p><p><br /> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Wisdom_of_the_crowds?_Smart_mobs?_Mobocracy?"><span id="Wisdom_of_the_crowds.3F_Smart_mobs.3F_Mobocracy.3F"></span>Wisdom of the crowds? Smart mobs? Mobocracy?</h3></div> <p>There is a “million monkeys” view of Wikipedia - that it is made through people adding bits of information seemingly at random, or purely according to their own desires (Forte & Bruckman, 2008). People can add anything they like, and people often do add information without coordinating with others, but there is more to Wikipedia than the dumb, drone-like “hive mind”. (See the article by Kevin Kelly, and the responses to Jaron Lanier's article, in the resources section.) Also, where there are people, there are inevitably social problems – see, for example, the case of a blogger <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/17/internet">subjected to ‘cyber-bullying’</a>, and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/18/blogging">response from the editor</a>. Even though this was not a case about Wikipedia, it reflects on the features of open publishing spaces, like Wikipedia, as well as the discourses they generate. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Discussion">Discussion</h2></div> <ul><li>How might Wikipedia’s technological features help someone read Wikipedia critically?</li> <li>What implications does all the information on this page have for the construction of knowledge?</li> <li>Apart from using it to find information, how might Wikipedia be a tool for learning? How might the nature of Wikipedia be used as a pedagogical opportunity? (For more on this, see the article by Jenkins in resources section.)</li> <li>Is it possible to present a neutral point of view? Why do you think it is such an “absolute and non-negotiable” policy on Wikipedia? (See: <a class="external free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV</a>) What are the educational implications of this; is it desirable for teachers/students to have a neutral point of view?</li></ul> <p><br /> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Resources_and_further_reading">Resources and further reading</h2></div> <p>Henry Jenkins – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/06/what_wikipedia_can_teach_us_ab.html">What Wikipedia can teach us about the new media literacies (part one)</a> </p><p>Jimmy Wales on Wikipedia - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7200000/newsid_7209200/7209210.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm&news=1&bbcws=1">short video</a> and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fora.tv/2006/04/14/Jimmy_Wales_on_Wikipedia">more detailed video</a> </p><p>Kevin Kelly – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/02/the_bottom_is_n.php">The bottom is not enough</a> </p><p>Jaron Lanier's article on <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.html">'Digital Maoism'</a>. (See also <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.edge.org/discourse/digital_maoism.html">responses to Lanier</a>) </p><p>Seth Finkelstein – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/dec/06/wikipedia">Inside, Wikipedia is more like a sweatshop than Santa’s workshop</a> - an article which questions Wikipedia’s transparency </p><p>Dirk Riehle - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.riehle.org/computer-science/research/2006/wikisym-2006-interview.html">How and Why Wikipedia Works: An Interview with Angela Beesley, Elisabeth Bauer, and Kizu Naoko'</a> </p><p>Fernanda Viégas, Martin Wattenberg, & Matthew McKeon - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.research.ibm.com/visual/papers/hidden_order_wikipedia.pdf">The Hidden Order of Wikipedia</a> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia#Learning_resources" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia#Learning resources</a> - List of videos, slides, assignments, text books, etc, related to Wikipedia.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia/Quizzes" title="Wikipedia/Quizzes">Wikipedia/Quizzes</a> - Multiple-choice self-tests related to Wikipedia.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div> <p>Forte, A., Bruckman, A. (2008) <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~aforte/ForteInformationLiteracyWikipedia.pdf">Learning information literacy in the age of Wikipedia</a>. International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Utrecht, Netherlands </p><p>Lessig, L (2004) Free culture, Penguin. Retrieved from <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/">http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/</a> </p><p>McHenry, R. (2004) The faith-based encyclopedia, TCS daily, 15th November 2004. Retrieved from <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=111504A">http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=111504A</a> </p><p>Waldman, S. (2004) Who knows? The Guardian, 26th October, 2004. Retrieved from <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/oct/26/g2.onlinesupplement">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2004/oct/26/g2.onlinesupplement</a> </p><p>Wikipedia (2008) Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, <a class="external free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view</a> </p><p>Wikipedia (2008) Wikipedia:Verifiability, <a class="external free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability</a> </p><p>Wikipedia (2008) Wikipedia:No original research, <a class="external free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research</a> </p><p>Wikipedia (2008) Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia, <a class="external free" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Researching_with_Wikipedia">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Researching_with_Wikipedia</a> </p></div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&oldid=500462">https://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Inside_Wikipedia&oldid=500462</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Category</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia" title="Category:Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 9 November 2009, at 15:39.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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