2008/12/21 David Gerard <dger...@gmail.com>: > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/caitlin_moran/article5371572.ece > > > I think she's saying that, given a wiki page to edit, everyone turns > into an incredibly tedious nerd. (I know I do.)
>From the article: "Wikipedia's founding belief is that everyone has one subject (dropping the gearbox out of a Ford Ghia, the life and works of Morton Harket of A-Ha, making wild-berry chutney), on which they are an expert - and could, therefore, then contribute an entry on said subject to Wikipedia. " I've never considered this to be Wikipedia's founding belief. Wikipedia culture is far more geared toward referencing than expertise, and toward generalism rather than specificism. Expertise can certainly mean that someone is more dexterous with concepts and handling references relating to a subject, but knowing something in your head is useless for Wikipedia unless you can point out where this fact is written. Expertise is certainly welcome, but has never been an assumption. I would say that Wikipedia's founding belief is closer to "you don't need to be an expert to write about something, as long as you research the subject and reference legitimate sources". -- Oldak Quill (oldakqu...@gmail.com) _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
