Wikipedia

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia
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Wikipedia is an online open source encyclopedia, which according to its own words "anyone can edit". While there can be no doubt that Wikipedia represents a kind of democratisation of knowledge, it has many strengths and weaknesses, and has frequently been subjected to scathing criticism. It has proven to be one of the most exciting features of the twenty first century internet, and also the most irritating.

General Overview

Launched by American web-entrepreneur Jimmy Wales<ref>Jimmy Wales's biography on Wikipedia]</ref> on January 15, 2001, it takes its name from a portmanteau of "encyclopaedia" and the Hawaiian word "wiki wiki" meaning "quick" or "quickly". As such, it runs on a similar basis to Shetlopedia, although with considerably more modifications, pages, and users. It is available in a vast number of languages and dialects including Cornish and Norfuk (Norfolk Island dialect). It avoids using copyrighted material, but is able to use some open source material as a non-commercial website.

Wikipedia has frequently been subjected to vandalism and political attacks, blatant advertising and also suffers from so called "link rot", i.e. web based referencing, which deteriorates when the webpages referenced become dead links. On the positive side, however, it is free to anyone who uses the Internet, and can be updated extremely rapidly. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, one of Wikipedia's rivals:

"For many observers of these controversies, a troubling difference between Wikipedia and other encyclopaedias lies in the absence of editors and authors who will accept responsibility for the accuracy and quality of their articles. These observers point out that identifiable individuals are far easier to hold accountable for mistakes, bias, and bad writing than is a community of anonymous volunteers, but other observers respond that it is not entirely clear if there is a substantial difference. Regardless of such controversies—perhaps in part because of them—Wikipedia has become a model of what the collaborative Internet community can and cannot do."<ref name=Britannica>Wikipedia. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.</ref>

Wikipedia articles are often adopted by various different “projects” and graded accordingly. Grades can be found on the discussion page of each article, along with comments. In the case of controversial subjects, the debates are frequently far longer than the articles themselves. The future of wikipedia is continually in flux, with issues over accuracy, neutral point of view (which is almost impossible with certain articles such as Tibet or Palestine), copyright, trolling, defamation/slander and funding all coming to the fore. Policing the website has also proven extremely difficult. The website has spread into new areas such as Wikinews (not so successful), Wiktionary (fairly successful) and Wikisource (very successful).

Another danger with Wikipedia comes from within. It frequently leans towards bureaucracy, or self-appointed groups of editors. People who wish to push a point or an agenda on Wikipedia, are usually those with the time to do so, rather than those with the appropriate qualifications. It also has a wide array of obscure jargon or terminology, specific to it, which is used nowhere else and is continually changing. Arguably, this can be used to shut out certain editors, or “blind them with science”. While Wikipedia has egalitarian and quasi-democratic pretensions, its sheer size mitigates against that. (Relatively little criticism can be aimed at its founder, Jimmy Wales. He claims to be a libertarian, and his role in Wikipedia is fairly minor and “hands off” – he is certainly no dictator. )

Shetland

Needless to say, Wikipedia is one of the most comprehensive sources of information about Shetland. Its coverage is vast, but not always accurate. Because of the nature of Wikipedia, it is difficult for local knowledge to be used, if no references are to be found in books or online. This is a mixed blessing. Some material on Wikipedia has been taken from Shetlopedia in the past.

Wikipedia, is continually expanding, and being changed, so it is almost impossible to provide a completely up to date account of its Shetland coverage here.

Readers shall find that while in some subject areas, Shetlopedia and Wikipedia are very similar, in others, they have entirely different "takes". One crucial difference is that Shetlopedia has a conscious bias towards a Shetland perspective, but Wikipedia claims, or aims, to have a global coverage and perspective. Shetland Wikipedians do exist, but are few in number. On the other hand, many Wikipedians speak other languages, which means that a wide range of sources are sometimes used.

Readers should take care when using Wikipedia. It may be highly useful as a reference guide, and as a pointer, but it is not a respectable academic source for the reasons listed above. Readers will occasionally find completely inaccurate information on Shetland on Wikipedia, both as a result of cynical or juvenile vandalism or by accident and ignorance.

Generally speaking, if a Shetland subject is on Wikipedia, it should be on Shetlopedia; however, plenty of Shetlopedia subject matter, e.g. individual Lerwick streets or B&Bs and so on, would not be considered notable enough for Wikipedia, and would probably be deleted quickly.

Of Interest

(all in English)

Articles

Categories

An incomplete listing, many subcategories exist within these:

Projects

There are also additional projects for the UK, Europe, and more general subject areas, such as birds, plants etc. These only very occasionally touch on Shetland.

Articles based on Shetlopedia

A small number of articles on Wikipedia have been written using Shetlopedia material, they include the following (original articles are in brackets after): <ref>Note: the actual Shetlopedia articles may have been rewritten since.</ref>

<small/>

References

<references/>

See Also

External Links

(For links to Wikipedia itself, please use other section)

Criticism

Positive Use
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