jason

I saw Slashdot | Encyclopedia Britannica to Take User Contributions on Slashdot linking to PC Pro: News: Encyclopaedia Britannica dips toe in Wiki waters:

Britannica has long been a vocal critic of Wikipedia’s user-generated content, and has repeatedly attacked the accuracy of its articles. Unsurprisingly then, it is keen to stress that its new website will not be following the Wiki-model, describing it “as a collaborative process but not a democratic one.”

Indeed, under the new Britannica scheme those who wish to contribute will need to create a profile outlining their qualifications and expertise in the area they are commentating on. They will then be able to add comments to encyclopaedia entries, or write their own. This content will then be reviewed by the expert editors of the site, and if any of it is deemed worthy of inclusion, added to the main article with a credit.

This of course will crack most people up who have ever had to explain the relative value of wikipedia vs encyclopedias, and the whole notion of who is ‘qualified’ to have a voice in terms of the co-construction of new knowledge.