The Wikipedia or Britannica Debate Continues
The Wall Street Journal hosts a mini online debate between Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Dale Hoiberg, editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Here is the crux of the debate:
Hoiberg: There is little evidence to suggest that simply having a lot of people freely editing encyclopedia articles produces more balanced coverage. On the contrary, it opens the gates to propaganda and seesaw fights between writers with different axes to grind.
Wales: The main thrust of our evolution has been to become more open, because we have found time and time again that increased openness, increased dialog and debate, leads to higher quality. I think it is a misunderstanding to think of “openness” as antithetical to quality. “Openness” is going to be necessary in order to reach the highest levels of quality.
Over at BuzzMachine Jeff Jarvis writes in part:
…it’s a shame we’re not past this us-v-them narrative in the worlds of Wikipedia, encyclopedias, and shared knowledge. Newspapers are finally starting – just starting – to figure out how to work together. How should the publishers and the people in this world work together?
By the way, here is what you get at Britannica if you do a search of Jimmy Wales. And here is what you get if you do a search of Dale Hoiberg.
