WK 1.4, what is Wikipedia? - Hanane Ben Abdeslam

Wikipedia was founded in 2011 by Jimmy Wales and is now available in more than 300 languages and it is worldwide used to do online searching. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia written by volunteers. The name is divided in “Wiki” and “Encyclopedia”. A Wiki is a website that can be edited by any visitor. The information can be freely viewed and edited by anyone. In this way, the open character ensures that the information available on Wikipedia continues to increase. However, because everyone can edit a Wiki, the articles cannot be guaranteed with true facts/information. Wikipedia trust their community/volunteers that they check their work themselves. Whoever wants to edit must follow a strict guideline when writing articles. This includes that articles must be objective and that no copyrights may be infringed.

I find it interesting that a Wiki is technically a “group project” because many people are editing it together, without exactly knowing that more people have been writing. If someone sees an article that he or she finds interesting, and does some research, this person can add their results in the Wiki.

So, everyone is able to edit an article, but must have reliable sources. How can Wikipedia confirm that these sources are ‘reliable’?

Hanane Ben Abdeslam

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