Wikepedia

[Robert Chandler]

Thank you, Andrey, what you say about trying to make changes is interesting.
But can you say at least a few words about what you find so objectionable in
this entry?  I have only  had time to glance at it very briefly indeed
myself.

Best wishes,

Robert

> I totally agree that a lot of printed materials are filled with bias and
> plain factual inaccuracies/mistakes/lies. However, I think there is a
> difference between a history book by a concrete author with whom you can
> disagree and engage in a discussion and who has his scholarly reputation at
> stake to prevent him or her from lying, and an anonymous on-line article. Of
> course, if critical thinking is applied to a Wikipedia entry just as it
> should to an expressed opinion of someone obscure individual you never heard
> about, it is just fine; I often feel, however, that Wikipedia is referred to
> as THE source of objective information, the expression of collective wisdom,
> shared knowledge etc, that is, something having more authority than a
> writing of a concrete individual, let alone an anonymous one.
> 
> As to the idea of changing something in Wikipedia myself, it is not at all
> that simple. I tried editing "Great Patriotic War" entry. My changes
> reflected on the screen on the day I made them; however, the next day the
> entry looked exactly as it did before I edited it. I do not know how it
> works -- whether there is some Big Brother secretly monitoring the site, or
> just an individual who likes the entry as it is and re-edits it every time
> someone makes changes -- at any rate, this blindfolded process is not a
> scholarly discussion, neither is it a process thereby some existing public
> or scholarly consensus gets reflected in the entry that we can read.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Josh Wilson
> Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 12:53 AM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Wikepedia
> 
> I would also add that inaccuracies or biased statements in Wikipedia are not
> proof that it should not be used. If you've ever read anything by Daniel
> Goldhagen, for instance, you'll know that a lot of printed histories are
> filled with biases. (However, I have read much of his work as his biases are
> interesting and good for debate.)
> 
> On another thought, accuracy in history can change overtime:
> http://www.sras.org/news2.phtml?m=768
> 
> In short, it's not that the Internet is unreliable, but that it's simply
> much more important now that it is much easier to publish material to not
> believe everything you read. So I hope that all the educators on this list
> are doing all they can not only teach language and literature, but also to
> teach critical thinking skills.
> 
> IMHO, 
> 
> JW
> 
> PS. Also, if you don't like Wikipedia, you may join Wikipedia and change it.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu] On Behalf Of Alina Israeli
> Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 3:36 AM
> To: SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Wikepedia
> 
>> Yes, science and technology sections in Wikipedia (which Nature your quote
>> refers to) are usually quite good -- there are a lot more experts around to
>> check for accuracy and there are no particular stakes in misinforming the
>> public about the structure of DNA or the engines used in 1949 Fords, for
>> example. History is a very different matter...
> 
> If you don't like the Wikipedia article on "Great Patriotic War" (or
> anything else for that matter), you can click on the left hand side
> for another language and get a completely different article in
> Russian 
> http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%
> 9E%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%
> D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%B0
> 
> or in German 
> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronologie_Zweiter_Weltkrieg (in fact
> two German versions
> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fer_Vaterl%C3%A4ndischer_Krieg)
> 
> or in French http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Op%C3%A9ration_Barbarossa
> 
> or in a number of other languages. These are not translations, for
> some articles I compared Russian, English and French and had ample
> opportunity to observe differences.

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