If you can't beat them, join them.
Wikipedia is one of the Web's busiest sites. It is a hugely powerful resource, not only to bloggers like me, but to anyone looking for quick and easy access to information on just about any subject you can imagine. But there are still people out there who doubt Wikipedia's accuracy, and quite a few of them work in the academy. Indeed, many colleges and universities have banned the use of Wikipedia as a source that students can cite in their papers.
But at least one university professor is taking a different stance when it comes to Wikipedia. TechDirt blogger Mike Masnick reports that University of Washington-Bothell professor Martha Groom has her students write new Wikipedia entries or substantially edit existing articles as an alternative to submitting semester-ending papers.
What a great idea! Not only do Professor Groom's students contribute to building a more robust set of resources that others can use, but they learn how to present their arguments from a neutral perspective, which is what Wikipedia's article standards demand.
This could be a good model for your association. Consider collaborating with an academic member who is willing to have his or her students edit, update or expand Wikipedia articles that directly relate to the knowledge base of your profession or industry. Of course, you first will need to identify a professor who isn't a reflexive Wikipedia-hater!
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Comments
One very progressive (hip?) literature professor of mine integrates wikis into his classes, but in a different way than you might expect. Rather than using the wiki as an encyclopedia, he exploits it as a collaboration tool. Students are required to keep a reading blog and write their term papers on their personal pages. These then become venues for discussion which often leaks into the in-class lectures (and vice-versa). Dedicated pages are created for relevant terms and literary characters, but that certainly isn't the main purpose of the wiki.
I found it to be a refreshing experience. Here's a link to the main wiki page: http://honors.rit.edu/amitraywiki/index.php/Main_Page
Posted by: Chelsea Killam | November 6, 2007 2:30 PM