wikipedia
DESCRIPTION
An annotated bibliography of a article about WikipediaTRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: Wikipedia](https://reader035.vdocument.in/reader035/viewer/2022071921/55cf9b8c550346d033a67fd3/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Fletcher, Dan. "A Brief History of Wikipedia." Time 18 Aug. 2009: n. pag. Web.
In 2001, Lawrence Sanger and James Whales conceived Nupedia, a kind of online encyclopedia
that would feature articles by experts, which would then be reviewed by users. However, the
process of writing articles took so long that after 6 months in operation, there were only 2 articles
on the entire site. So, at the suggestion of Sanger, the duo reformatted the website to include a
section for user-created articles, which quickly surpassed Nupedia in popularity. In 2002, Sanger
left Wikipedia because he was unsure of the legitimacy of the project, and although a study by
Nature found the content similarly accurate with The Encyclopedia Britannica, critics often
complain about bad writing, obvious bias, and the promotion of pet projects. (The site’s list of
star wars characters is 50% longer than the article on World War II) Still, Jimmy Whales (who is
still in charge of the non-profit, ad free site) hopes that the site will one day contain “the sum of
human knowledge.”
Before reading this article I had no idea Wikipedia stemmed from an older website. I also learned
that critics have complaints other than accuracy about Wikipedia’s content. I found it very
surprising that the founder of the website’s user-edited content left because of a feeling of
illegitimacy, however, he left very early, before the site really took off.
“Not bad for a service originally conceived as an afterthought to Nupedia”
“In May, Wikipedia banned IP addresses owned by the Church of Scientology on the
grounds that Scientologists were making edits that didn't suggest a "neutral point of
view" — the encyclopedia's golden rule.”