Wikipedia+Story


 * Classwork for November 13th, 2014:**

You are to read this article: **You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story** and answer the following questions on a new page you create on the @http://collegeresearchskills.pbworks.com wiki:

If students do not finish in class, you must finish this for homework.


 * Questions based on the article (to be answered in 2-4 complete sentences): **


 * 1) ** What did wiki software allow Web users to do that the Mosaic browser did not? **
 * 2) ** What do blogs and wikis have in common? **
 * 3) ** What problem did a young Jimmy Wales find with the World Book Encyclopedia? **
 * 4) ** How was Jimmy Wales inspired by the World Book Encyclopedia to create Wikipedia? **
 * 5) ** How have encyclopedias inspired you in your own life? **
 * 6) ** Why did Nupedia fail? **
 * 7) ** How did wiki software change the ideas behind Nupedia? **
 * 8) ** What is “crowdsourcing?” **
 * 9) ** What do you think about the concept of “any fool in the world” being able to write articles for Wikipedia? **
 * 10) ** Do agree with the idea that “total idiots” could edit Wikipedia and of that being a good thing? Explain. **
 * 11) ** Why do you think Wikipedia grew so fast and became so popular in such a short amount of time? **
 * 12) ** Do you believe Sanger’s elitist attitude was a good thing or a bad thing for Wikipedia? **
 * 13) ** What did you learn from the anecdote about the Wikipedia article on Einstein going to Albania for a passport in 1935? **
 * 14) ** Explain this quote from the article: “I can’t imagine who could have written such detailed guidelines other than a bunch of people working together...It’s common in Wikipedia that we’ll come to a solution that’s really well thought out because so many minds have had a crack at improving it.” **
 * 15) ** The author of the article states that Wikipedia “grew organically.” What does he mean by that? **
 * 16) ** How has Wikipedia “been the greatest collaborative knowledge project in history?” **
 * 17) ** Based on your own opinion and experience with Wikipedia, do you agree with the above statement or disagree with it? Explain. **
 * 18) ** What does the author mean by “wiki-crack?” **
 * 19) ** Based on the article, do you believe Wikipedia is a reliable source of information? **
 * 20) ** Do you believe its possible for a 16-year-old from New Jersey to write “insightful” Wikipedia articles? **
 * 21) ** How do you feel about basing your own research on something a 16-year-old wrote on Wikipedia? **
 * 22) ** What does Jimmy Wales mean by this mission statement: “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge?” **
 * 23) ** Do you agree or disagree with this mission statement? **
 * 24) ** Do you think Wikipedia has succeeded in its mission? **
 * 25) ** Do you agree or disagree that ordinary people, people without degrees, can “be part of the process of creating and distributing knowledge?” **
 * 26) ** Based on your reading of the article, would you yourself use Wikipedia for your academic research? **
 * 27) ** Would you yourself like to write and/or edit Wikipedia articles in order to be “a part of the process of creating and distributing knowledge?” Why or why not? **