This document discusses Wikipedia and user-generated content. It provides perspectives from interviews on people's Wikipedia usage, including types of searches and satisfaction. While user-generated content raises accuracy concerns, interviews found Wikipedia a valuable starting point. The document also discusses alternatives to Wikipedia, library wikis, and liability considerations for user-generated content.

1. Authority, Legitimacy and Liability in a Wiki World Brenda Hough Library Training Specialist MaintainIT Project [email_address] Experts? We don’t need no stinkin’ experts!

4. “ Britannica just gets used as kindling now.” - Stephen Colbert Denis Diderot French Enlightenment Jimmy Wales Postmodern Experiment

6. Who is an expert? “ It’s the first place I go when I’m looking for knowledge or when I want to create some.” – Stephen Colbert

7. When do you want an expert? “ If you are faced with the prospect of having brain surgery who would you rather it be performed by - a surgeon trained at medical school or someone who has read Wikipedia?” - Article in 4/14/08 Computerworld http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1828979092;pp;1 Straw man argument?

13. RNA Interference “ It was for work. I was reading about RNA interference for a class I was teaching. The academic literature was a bit hard to understand, so I went to Wikipedia to look for a more ‘layman’s terms’ description of how it worked. After getting the basic concepts down from Wikipedia, I was able to go back to the academic literature and understand the details better.”

14. Sarajevo, Bosnia “ I met a colleague who emigrated here from Bosnia and I wanted to be able to converse with him in an intelligent way about his country. I didn’t want to seem like a stupid American by not valuing where he came from.”

15. “ hobby shooters email list discussion of the legal issues of an armed person shooting someone during a burglary” Felony Murder Rule

16. A priori “ I heard it used in a television show dialogue, and even though I was familiar with the term, it was used in a serious, then again in a ribbing manner. The dialogue exchange was quick and I didn't think I caught the gist of what they were trying to convey.”

18. 5. If not Wikipedia, then…?

20. RNA Interference “ I would have tried to find another resource, probably a textbook. This would have been much harder, and probably would have involved (gasp) a trip to the library.”

21. Instrumental variables “ If Wikipedia did not exist, I would have clicked another link from Google that I thought would be useful. Since I had a general idea about what I was looking for, a pdf of some econometrics course notes would have been sufficient. If the internet wasn't available, I could have looked it up in one of books or notes, but that would have taken too long (too long meaning more than a minute).”

23. RNA Interference “ I used the information to supplement my understanding of the topic. I also shared it with my students. They liked the Wikipedia version of the material better than the literature articles.”

25. Does knowing it’s user-created concern you? “ Yes. The "up" side is that I usually find the Wikipedia entries on science topics to be more accessible than the scientific literature. I wonder if this is because graduate students and/or people who are not deeply entrenched in the field are more likely to write the entries (so they have more of a layman's perspective on how to describe it). Of course the "down" side is that the facts may not always be accurate.

26. “ As a GIS (Geographic Information System) professional I tend to use the Internet to look for a specific technical topic or recent article. When I need to know about something for GIS, I usually search an industry specific website. If I need to explain a basic GIS topic to somebody outside my profession I will use Wikipedia. Otherwise I would have to dig into my old text books.” Does knowing it’s user-created concern you?

27. “ Generally, I am pro-democratization of information, I am, however sort of concerned about students who use it as a primary source. All in all, I think that the truth will be sussed out by public openness and that is good all around.” Does knowing it’s user-created concern you?

28. Citizendium We aim at credibility, not just quantity. citizendium.org

29. Veropedia http:// search.veropedia.com

30. Conservapedia The Trustworthy Encyclopedia http:// www.conservapedia.com

31. Helium A capitalist version of Wikipedia http:// www.helium.com

32. OpenWetWare Biology and Biological Engineering http:// openwetware.org /

33. Wookieepedia The Star Wars Wiki http:// starwars.wikia.com

35. Collaboration between Libraries libsuccess.org

36. Collaboration between Library Staff https:// wiki.lib.umn.edu /

37. Collaboration between Library Staff and Patrons http:// www.libraryforlife.org/subjectguides

38. Collaboration between Patrons http:// www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki /

41. Thank you! Questions? Comments? Brenda Hough [email_address]