Today I created a Wikipedia account so that the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies can start new pages, as well as edit existing pages. The login name is "CUCS" with the typical password, and it is not attached to any email address. This may raise some questions for new readers, namely:
What is Wikipedia?
First and most clearly, it is a wiki, which means it is a web site that operates like a bulletin board, or like an electronic report with various threads and chapters that can serve to display "concrete" information to the universe, or interject more malleable topics into a common thread for discussion from readers and subscribers. Wikipedia is a wiki encyclopedia, hence the name. This is a very simple definition working within the confines of online media I have been experimenting with so far, see the following links for more information about Wikipedia, what it says about itself, and what the Wikipedia project is and where it's going.
Why should we be interested in Wikipedia?
Well it's an incredibly useful tool, any student will tell you, and part of the reason that the internet is such an innovative tool for communication and educational purposes. In the religion department elective I am taking this session called Religion and Media (RLGN 1450) I am learning about how accessible media gives power to the masses - in ways that religious and cultural authorities may not approve of, even in a way that compromises the content of the institution or doctrine that it represents. Wikipedia is a body of our knowledge - much of it is unreliable, not cited, or created by people who are hardly qualified in the academic or professional sense to be educating others on the topic. That's kind of what's great about it. We get to see what people understand, and what they think, how they order the universe and put things together.
This is why the internet is a trap for false information, it's freedom for anyone to put anything in a public body of knowledge, but so is every other type of media - books, newspapers, pamphlets, visual art, music, and anything else can be full of contradiction, misinformation, aesthetic or moral relativism, or just plain idiocy - to be frank - but that doesn't mean that it is void of meaning, nor that it is useless information. There are contributors who take great care to show the quality of their information, and I would encourage any professional or layman alike to contribute to their "area of expertise" in the free space run by Wikipedia - it's so widely used that it is a fantastic way to disseminate quality information quickly - the audience base is unimaginable.
Also, don't forget to check out some Wikipedia's sister projects:
Wikipedia and all Wikipedia sister projects are hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment