In defense of Wikipedia, and without getting wordy, I'll summarize:

1. Just three years ago, Wiki was a pile of junk I spent a lot of time on trying to correct within my fields of experience. I wrote many articles. I edited many more. There were edit wars galore.

2. Today, it (the vast majority, and I worked on less than 1% of "it") appears to be very much in order, agreeing with a wide variety of outside modern sources.

What happened?

Two things:

1. A change in the board's management to curb vandelistic posts while promoting informed posts.

2. Membership increased way more than 1000%, and those additional members, while latecomers are the real subject matter experts (SMEs). These SMEs cleaned up the place, override, in their various respective areas, vandelistic attacks, report such (which are swiftly handled/banned by the mods).

The result? What you have now is a very tightly run organization by admins, mods, and SMEs that simply get the truth out. Wikipedia has become FAR more comprehensive than any printed encyclopedia that has preceded it, covering FAR more topics, and in FAR more depth.

All three by many orders of magnitude. I once read that if Wikipedia were ever to go into print, it would occupy well over 100 times the desk space of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

The only remaining question is one of accuracy.

Again, I go back to my original remark. Three years ago, it was questionable.

I no longer believe this is the case.

Why? Because the SMEs have risen to the cause, and just like in the real world, where only 5% of the people are criminals, the SMEs have overpowered and outsmarted the vandals.

It's a new world, folks. An online world, and it's nice that most sections of society have stepped up to bat.

Let's get personal. I had an "online date" the other night. It was fun! We went to the Louvre, clicked on it's first link, Babylon (I've been there), and proceeded to tour using Google Earth, Wikipedia, and the various resources available online, dozens of websites dealing with ancient history (one of her favorite subjects). In addition, we shared pics and videos via the web.

Wikipedia has, since it's inception, continued to mature into a powerful and robust warehouse of information and knowledge.

I own no stock. Wish I did!

The reason is because it appears to be (in my opinion, having read through all volumes of both) eclipsing both World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica (EB). (what can I say? I got bored with homework, so I picked up the first volume and began reading... ...didn't stop until the last! Then, when I was in high school and could drive to the library, I reaccomplished the feat through EB. I was a bored kid, bored with school, and hungry for knowledge. I just hope none of you think that I wasted your taxpayer dollars. I thought that's what libraries were for - so that we could learn.

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Change in channel. That occurred between the late 1960s and the late 1970s. We're in the 2000s.

Times change.

There are three things that I love about Wikipedia. The first is that at the end of just about every article, there are references to (usually books) entitled "Further Reading." The second is a section entitled, "See Also," which which includes links to related topics on Wikipedia. The third is the References section, which includes (usually with online links) various documents upon which the article was based. The fourth is External Links, where, online, one might find additional information outside of Wikipedia.

Dudes and Dudettes. Our world is changing. Having read entirely through the two most prolific brands of encyclopedias, and having had a very detailed education bordering on no less than four fronts (engineering, busness, aviation, astronomy... ...much like an uncle (wry grin, here - never though I'd be like him)), I'm here to tell you three things:

1. Wikipedia isn't perfect. It's a work in progress, but the progress has improved 25,000% since 2005.

2. It is FAR more comprehensive in both breadth of coverage as well as depth (detail) than either World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica.

3. I included a link to it in my signature because of the two aforementioned facts.

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol.

Perception isn't reality. It's merely an abstraction thereof, and quite often not a very good one at that.

I am human. Fully human.