Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-k8lnt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T14:36:47.074Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

On Trusting Wikipedia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2012

P. D. Magnus
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Given the fact that many people use Wikipedia, we should ask: Can we trust it? The empirical evidence suggests that Wikipedia articles are sometimes quite good but that they vary a great deal. As such, it is wrong to ask for a monolithic verdict on Wikipedia. Interacting with Wikipedia involves assessing where it is likely to be reliable and where not. I identify five strategies that we use to assess claims from other sources and argue that, to a greater of lesser degree, Wikipedia frustrates all of them. Interacting responsibly with something like Wikipedia requires new epistemic methods and strategies.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Episteme , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 74 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Auer, Nicole and Sebek, Robert. 2007. “Bibliography on Evaluating Web Information.” Retrieved November 2, 2008, from http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/instruct/evaluate/evalbiblio.htmlGoogle Scholar
Bragues, George. 2007. “Wiki-Philosophizing in a Marketplace of Ideas: Evaluating Wikipedia's Entries on Seven Great Minds.” Working paper. http://ssrn.com/abstract=978177Google Scholar
Cohen, Noam. 2007. “A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia as a Research Source.” New York Times, February 21. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/education/21wikipedia.htmlGoogle Scholar
Collins, Harry, Evans, Rob, Ribeiro, Rodrigo, and Hall, Martin. 2006. “Experiments with Interactional Expertise.” Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part A 37(4): 656–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Doctorow, Cory. 2006. “On ‘Digital Maoism: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism’ by Jaron Lanier.” Edge. http://www.edge.org/discourse/digital_maoism.htmlGoogle Scholar
Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. “Fatally Flawed: Refuting the Recent Study on Encyclopedic Accuracy by the Journal Nature.” http://corporate.britannica.com/britannica_nature_response.pdfGoogle Scholar
Fallis, Don. 2008. “Toward an Epistemology of Wikipedia.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59(10): 1662–74.Google Scholar
Frické, Martin and Fallis, Don. 2003. “Indicators of Accuracy for Answers to Ready Reference Questions on the Internet.” Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 55(3): 238–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gedda, Rodney. 2008. “Wikipedia Breeds ‘Unwitting Trust’ Says IT Professor.” Computerworld, April 14. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1828979092Google Scholar
Giles, Jim. 2005. “Internet Encyclopaedias Go Head to Head.” Nature 438: 900–1.Google Scholar
Halavais, Alex. 2004. “The Isuzu Experiment.” Blog entry at A Thaumaturgical Compendium. http://alex.halavais.net/index.php?p=794Google Scholar
Lanier, Jaron. 2006. “Digital Maoism: The Hazards of the New Online Collectivism.” Edge. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Magnus, P. D. 2001. “Reliability on the Crowded Net: Finding the Truth in a Web of Deceit.” MacHack 16 (Proceedings). MacHack: The Conference for Leading Edge Developers. http://hdl.handle.net/1951/25991Google Scholar
Magnus, P. D. 2006. “Epistemology and the Wikipedia.” Paper presented at the North American Computing and Philosophy Conference, Troy, New York. http://hdl.handle.net/1951/42589Google Scholar
Magnus, P. D. 2008. “Early Response to False Claims in Wikipedia.” First Monday 13(9). http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2115/2027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nature. 2006. “Britannica Attacks… and We Respond.” 440: 582.Google Scholar
Read, Brock. 2006. “Can Wikipedia EverMake the Grade?” The Chronicle of Higher Education 53(10): A31. http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i10/10a03101.htmGoogle Scholar
Stross, Randall. 2006. “Anonymous Source Is Not the Same as Open Source.” New York Times, March 12. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/business/yourmoney/12digi.htmlGoogle Scholar
Tynan, Dan. 2008. “The Truth Is Out There… Somewhere.” US Airways Magazine, January: 42.Google Scholar
Wikipedia contributors. “Wikipedia:Academic use.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 19, 2008, from http://en.Wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Academic_use&oldid=226679146Google Scholar
Wunderlich, Mark E. 2008. “Error-Avoidance Reliabilism.” Unpublished draft.Google Scholar