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Usage and Configuration of MediaWiki Software

For More Information On Usage and Configuration of MediaWiki Software

see http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_i18n for documentation on customizing the interface

see http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide for a User's Guide (usage and configuration help)

Wikipedia versus Britannica

March 27, 2006

Wikipedia has been stung in recent months by a number of miniature scandals -- each of which seemed to show the site's propensity for letting contributors post inaccurate information. But the open-source encyclopedia got a piece of good news in December: An investigation by the science journal Nature concluded that, when it comes to articles on science, Wikipedia is about as accurate as the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Britannica has finally stepped forward to dispute the study, and what the encyclopedia's rebuttal loses in timeliness, it more than makes up for in scathing language. "Almost everything about the journal's investigation, from the criteria for identifying inaccuracies to the discrepancy between the article text and its headline, was wrong and misleading," argue Britannica officials. (CNET News)

Nature's investigation actually proved that Britannica is more accurate than Wikipedia, but the journal misrepresented the results of its study, according to Britannica. (A complete version of the rebuttal is available online at http://corporate.britannica.com/britannica_nature_response.pdf )

Britannica, of course, has considerable incentive to preserve its reputation and discredit an upstart competitor. But the challenge to Nature's study might provide more grist for critics of Wikipedia, who have recently called attention to a new batch of less-than-scholarly contributions to the online encyclopedia. (United Press International)

Wiki Reading

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/020171499X.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg From Ward Cunningham, the creator of wikis

"Something Wiki This Way Comes" "They're web sites anyone can edit -- and they could transform Corporate America..." http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_23/b3886138.htm