What Is the Definition of Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is an extremely popular website, and currently has over fifteen million different articles. The majority of these articles are in English, but Wikipedia is available in a number of other languages as well. Yet, what is the history behind this website, and what is the definition of Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is defined as the “free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” The website was launched in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Currently, the website is one of the most popular reference sites on the Internet. The reference site aims to be objective and verifiable in its articles.
Although anyone can edit the articles, the website requests individuals to cite the information they add to an article. When information is not cited, the information is frequently removed from the reference website. Wikipedia is also moderated by editors, who attempt to verify the information located in the articles.
What Is the History Behind Wikipedia?
Wikipedia started as a project for Nupedia. Nupedia was a free online encyclopedia project. However, in Nupedia, the articles were written by experts rather than written by anyone on the Internet. Nupedia began in 2000 under the ownership of Borris, Inc.
While working at Nupedia, Wales and Sanger came up with the idea of Wikipedia. Wales had the idea that any individual should be able to edit the articles, while Sanger had the idea that a “wiki” could be used for individuals to edit the articles. A “wiki” is a type of website that allows the editing of a number of interlinked web pages. The different web pages are linked using a web browser. The two individuals used the Nupedia mailing list to create this wiki. Wikipedia was officially launched on January 15, 2001.
The Early Days of Wikipedia
At the end of 2001, Wikipedia had grown to almost twenty thousand articles and the website was available in eighteen different languages. A year later, the website was available in twenty-six different languages, and by the end of 2004, the website was available in one hundred and sixty one different languages.
When Wikipedia was first launched, it existed along with Nupedia. However, the success of Wikipedia soon overshadowed the latter website. In 2003, Nupedia was taken down. However, the information from Nupedia was incorporated into the Wikipedia database.
In 2007, the English version of Wikipedia reached more than two million articles. Wikipedia now holds the record for the largest encyclopedia ever created. The previous holder of the record, Yongle Encyclopedia, had held the record for six hundred years.
Criticism of Wikipedia
A number of individuals do not think that Wikipedia should call itself an “encyclopedia.” Individuals such as Robert McHenry, who was the former editor for Encyclopedia Britannica, has publicly condemned Wikipedia for doing so. According to McHenry, the word implies a level of authority and factuality that the website simply does not have.
Wikipedia has also been criticized for a lack of accuracy in their articles. However, some investigations have disputed this claim. For example, in 2005, a study showed that Wikipedia had a similar level of accuracy in its scientific articles as Encyclopedia Britannica had.
A study from 2003 showed that “vandalism” to the articles is repaired extremely fast, and that most users do not even notice it occurred. The study defined vandalism as placing obviously inaccurate information into the articles.
Wikipedia is also criticized by academics because the editors of the website are not in academia. Thus, individuals question the authority of the editors. Wikipedia has acknowledged that it should never be used as a primary source in any paper. Most colleges and schools do not allow Wikipedia to be used as a source on a paper at all due to questions about accuracy.