Re: Wikipedia -- tracking down self-serving anonymous edits

[David Farber <dfarber () cs cmu edu>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>
Date: August 24, 2007 8:23:52 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: Re: [IP] Wikipedia -- tracking down self-serving anonymous  
edits

Though I agree that Wikipedia is not an authoritative source, this  
does raise the question of what is an authoritative source.

Presumably depending on the "fact" in question, what makes a source  
authoritative is highly context dependent.

So here's a question: on a matter of (say) historical fact such as  
who first reached America by sea, who *would* be an authoritative  
source, and how could you tell?

To be honest, I'd trust Wikipedia articles that have been actively  
edited by a wide community far more than I would some self-proclaimed  
expert who takes cash to appear on a typical Fox News or CNN show.   
And probably more than someone who wrote a book whose goal is to make  
the best-seller list by being "interesting" (or worse).

Of course, one can always trust people with Ph.D.'s.  :-)

David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () gmail com>
> Date: August 19, 2007 11:12:10 AM EDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Wikipedia -- tracking down self-serving anonymous edits
>
> Dave,
>
> Although Wikipedia is not -- by its very nature -- an authoritative  
> source, many people treat it as if it were.
>
> Now the vulnerabiilty of Wikipedia to self-serving edits has been  
> made more visible.  Virgil Griffith, a grad student at Caltech, has  
> created the Wikiscanner, which traces IP addresses of anonymous  
> edits back to the organizations that hold the IP addresses.
>
> Article from The Independent at http://news.independent.co.uk/ 
> sci_tech/article2874112.ece has a long list of examples, such as  
> "The National Rifle Association of America doctored concerns about  
> its role in the increase in gun fatalities by replacing the passage  
> with a reference to the association's conservation work in America. "
>
> Article from New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/ 
> technology/19wikipedia.html? 
> em&ex=1187668800&en=550ef6c65ceb3535&ei=5087%0A gives other examples.
>
> Wikiscanner web site at http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/ provides  
> various sorts of search.
>
> Mary
>
>
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