[LIS-Forum] Librarians as Wikipedia Editors

30 Nov 2009

      Dear all,

Wikipedia , as per many other reports too, has entered a state of stagnation
in addition of articles. As well, the rate of deletion of articles  devoid
of references is on the rise.
As Wikipedia policy is for  inclusion of only well balanced  encyclopedia
kind of articles with proper references, Librarians are the right kind of
professionals who could build up Wikipedia as a reliable source of Knowledge
based  on the information materials available in their libraries. Wikipedia 
provides a
rare opportunity for Librarians to participate in the knowledge creation by
way of preparing and  uploading status-paper like articles on  their focus 
areas.

Regards,

K Rajasekharan
...
------------------------------
...
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:38:54 +0530
From: DINESH SIDDAIAH 
Subject: [LIS-Forum] Wikipedia entries dry up as volunteers exit
Dear Friends,
Wikipedia entries dry up as volunteers exit
It was one of the internet?s most radical and ultimately successful ideas.
Eight years ago Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia that allows
anyone
to write and edit articles, declared that it would provide access to ?the
sum of all human knowledge?. It soon became one of world?s most popular
websites. That intrepid project now, however, is starting to fall apart,
according to a report in The Times.Research reveals that the volunteers
who
create the pages,check facts and adapt the site are abandoning the site in
unprecedented numbers.
   Every month tens of thousands of Wikipedia?s editors are going
?dead??no
longer actively contributing and updating the site, The Times reported,
without a similar number of new contributors taking their place.
   Some argue that Wikipedia?s troubles represent a new phase for the
internet. Maybe, as some believe, the website has become part of the
establishment that it was supposed to change. The research found that in
the
first three months of this year the English-language version of the site
suffered a net loss of 49,000 contributors, compared with a loss of about
4,900 during last year. Many experts believe that the trend could threaten
Wikipedia?s future. *
-- 
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.