How Wikipedia Works/Content
Chapter 1. What's in Wikipedia?
editChapter 2. The World Gets a Free Encyclopedia
edit- Wikipedia's Mission
- Wikipedia's Roots
- Ancient Greece to Today: Encyclopedias
- Late 17th Century: The Modern Encyclopedia
- Wikipedia as an Encyclopedia
- The 1960s and 1970s: Unix, Networks, and Personal Computers
- The 1980s: The Free Software Movement
- 1995: Ward's Wiki
- 1997: Open Source Communities
- 2000: Online Community Dynamics
- 2001: Wikipedia Goes Live
- Wikipedia Today
- Unfinished Business
- The Wikipedia Model Debated
- Summary
Chapter 3. Finding Wikipedia's Content
editChapter 4. Understanding and Evaluating an Article
editFinal Thoughts for Part I
editFor those who don't know where to begin: The structures set up for browsing help provide in-depth explorations of nearly any topic, in ways that you might not have imagined.
For those with concerns about quality: Wikipedia is remarkably transparent, and it is the first encyclopedia to be so open about its editorial process. While the transparency of edit histories doesn't guarantee correctness, it provides much more opportunity than most reference sources to judge quality for yourself.
For those who think Wikipedia ought to be a one-stop shop: Although Wikipedia in general is excellent as a first source for research, it should hardly ever be the end of your research. As with any encyclopedia, checking with other reference sources and primary sources is a must.
For those who would like to help: The transition from lurker to worker on the site is easy. This book's next part covers what you need to know about editing.
For those who like to have the last word: There is no last word on Wikipedia, a work in progress.