Managing the Digital Enterprise | Case Study

CASE STUDY: WIKIPEDIA

About Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a free-content encyclopedia, written collaboratively by people from all around the world. The site is a wiki, which means that anyone with access to an Internet-connected computer can edit entries simply by clicking on the edit this page link. Wikipedia is a project of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. [Source: Wikipedia, January 2006]

Things to read:

About Wikipedia
Wikipedia, wikia and free culture by Jimmy Wales
Look it up (in Wikipedia): Wikipedia
Wikipedia in eight words
Wikipedia statistics
The Wikipedia Community
Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines
Wikipedia:Five pillars
Wikipedia:FAQ
Wikipedia:Criticisms
Criticism of Wikipedia
Why Wikipedia is not so great
Internet encyclopaedias go head to head by Jim Giles (writing in the journal Nature)
Fatally Flawed: Refuting the recent study on encyclopedic accuracy by the journal Nature by Encyclopædia Britannica

Questions to consider:

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Wikipedia approach to knowledge dissemination? How does Wikipedia compare with the traditional encyclopedia? Which would you trust more as a source of accurate information?
Should Wikipedia allow material to be posted by anonymous contributors? What are the advantages and drawbacks?
It is not uncommon for knowledgeable individuals to disagree over the facts on certain subjects. How does Wikipedia mediate disputes on sensitive or controversial topics? Is mediation likely to yield unbiased results?
By the end of 2005, there were over 4,000 very active "Wikipedians" (those individuals who contribute 100 times or more per month) and 27,000 individuals contributing at least 5 times per month. What factors might explain the motivation and commitment of such a large group of volunteers?

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