Who doesn’t love Wikipedia? Most of us are probably guilty of using wikipedia more than we should. Especially when wanting to know some quick fact or find out the basics for a subject we have no knowledge of. I am even guilty of using it as a verb. Example: “I should wikipedia that.” I do not use it as an academic source and I encourage my library patrons to use wikipedia as an introduction to a subject, not as the one and only source in their research paper. I like Wikipedia, but I don’t quite trust it and today I read a newspaper article that is making my understand why.
As most know director Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland last week on a US arrest warrant and now his wikipedia page has been locked. According to the Telegraph the page was locked after editors began fighting over what information to provide readers and what information should be emphasized (Oscar winning director vs self-admitted child rapist). Obviously wikipedia editors are not interested in present the facts in a neutral manner, they want the facts presented in a way that benefits their own personal views of Polanski. This makes me think, how often does this happen and did Wikipedia moderators only catch it happening on Polanski’s page because it is such a hot topic? The Telegraph article points out that other pages, such as the Church of Scientology have been locked because of editing problems, but how many other pages fly below the radar?
I will keep using Wikipedia, but I know I will read article carefully and with a critical eye. The problem is how many other people will just take Wikipedia’s word for it? And can anything be done about that?