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Date

3. 5.1997 8:44:22

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Abstract

Wikipedia (the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit) is having a huge impact on how a great many people gather information about the world. So, it is important for epistemologists and information scientists to ask whether people are likely to acquire knowledge as a result of having access to this information source. In other words, is Wikipedia having good epistemic consequences? After surveying the various concerns that have been raised about the reliability of Wikipedia, this article argues that the epistemic consequences of people using Wikipedia as a source of information are likely to be quite good. According to several empirical studies, the reliability of Wikipedia compares favorably to the reliability of traditional encyclopedias. Furthermore, the reliability of Wikipedia compares even more favorably to the reliability of those information sources that people would be likely to use if Wikipedia did not exist (viz., Web sites that are as freely and easily accessible as Wikipedia). In addition, Wikipedia has a number of other epistemic virtues (e.g., power, speed, and fecundity) that arguably outweigh any deficiency in terms of reliability. Even so, epistemologists and information scientists should certainly be trying to identify changes (or alternatives) to Wikipedia that will bring about even better epistemic consequences. This article suggests that to improve Wikipedia, we need to clarify what our epistemic values are and to better understand why Wikipedia works as well as it does. Somebody who reads Wikipedia is rather in the position of a visitor to a public restroom, says Mr. McHenry, Britannica's former editor. It may be obviously dirty, so that he knows to exercise great care, or it may seem fairly clean, so that he may be lulled into a false sense of security. What he certainly does not know is who has used the facilities before him. One wonders whether people like Mr. McHenry would prefer there to be no public lavatories at all. The Economist (Vol. 379, April 22, 2006, pp. 14-15)

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Date

3. 5.1997 8:44:22

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Footnote

Rez. in: JASIST 55(2004) no.7, S.651-652 (D.G. Smith): "A complex myriad of online information sources and services are currently accessible to knowledge workers worldwide. Those who have a computer equipped with a modern or Internet access can avail themselves of bibliographic, scientific, and full-text databases in a staggering number of disciplines. These online services, fueled by technological advancement, are in a constant state of change. Innovation occurs so quickly that it is difficult for knowledge workers to remember any other technological reality but the present. In such an environment, the origin of online information services often goes unconsidered. A History of Online Information Services, 1963-1976, by Charles P. Bourne and Trudi Bellardo Hahn, sheds light an the pioneering efforts of those who made current online information services possible. Michael Buckland states in the book's foreword that Bourne and Hahn's volume is the first history of the early online years. It covers the appearance of the first online information retrieval system in 1963 and concludes during 1976 when several commercial online information services, including DIALOG and LEXIS, became forerunners in the nascent online industry. Although developments in computing technology and communication networks were important to early online efforts, these topics are not discussed in the book. However, there are cases when offline computing technologies, such as database searching with punched cards, are reviewed if they are important to the development of online retrieval systems. ...

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Date

22. 6.2003 12:20:08

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3. 5.1997 8:44:22

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3. 5.1997 8:44:22

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3. 5.1997 8:44:22

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3. 5.1997 8:44:22

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3. 5.1997 8:44:22

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Date

26. 9.2003 12:42:22

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Date

17. 7.1996 9:33:22

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17. 7.1996 9:33:22

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Abstract

Ähnlich spektakulär und informativ präsentieren sich auch die Astronomen: Ihr schier unerschöpflicher Fundus von Bildern und Filmen macht das "elektronische Universum" auf http://zebu.uoregon.edu ebenso einen Klick wert wie die Geschichte von "Geburt und Tod der Sterne" auf demselben Server (http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~js/astl22). Schnell gerät der Wissensdurstige auf reizvolle Seitenpfade, denn viele Vorlesungen glänzen mit sorgfältig zusammengestellten Linklisten. Die führen zum Beispiel zu den "Chemischen Briefen" Justus von Liebigs, wie sie im 19. Jahrhundert zunächst als Wissenschaftskolumne in der Augsburger Allgemeinen Zeitung erschienen (www.liebig-museum.de/chbriefe/homepage.htm). Selbst die Alchemie - neunzig ansprechend präsentierte Megabyte auf www.alchemywebsite. com - verleitet zum Verweilen. Historisches ist, weil nicht stets aktualisierungsbedürftig, ohnehin beliebt im Netz. So wartet etwa die Universität Groningen (Niederlande) mit einem voluminösen Hypertext auf, praktisch ein komplettes Lehrbuch der amerikanischen Geschichte mit Texten, Essays und Präsidentenbiografien (http://odur.let.rug.nl/usanew). Noch weiter zurück in die Vergangenheit reicht eine Anthropologen-Website über den Ursprung des Menschen (www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5579/TA.html). Verspieltere Naturen werden dort zuerst fossile Schädel zuzuordnen versuchen ("Name That Skull") oder einem Anthropologiestudenten beim Wurf des Atlatl zusehen. Dieser frühe Wurfspeer machte schon den Mammuts zu schaffen und drang noch vor wenigen hundert Jahren durch die eiserne Rüstung spanischer Konquistadoren. Selbst Angewandtes bietet die World Lecture Hall. Etwa die "Geschichte der ökonomischen Denkweise" einschließlich eines 22-Minuten-"Interviews" mit Karl Marx auf www.boisestate.edu/econ/lreynol/web/het.htm. Oder Online-Sprachkurse: Wollof und Xhosa, Suaheli und Sanskrit lehrt http://www.word2word.vorn/courscad.html. Surfen allein fördert die akademische Karriere allerdings nicht unbedingt. Wer of fizielle Online-Zertifikate in Deutschland anstrebt, findet in dem Beitrag "Virtuelle Universität im Selbstversuch" (Spektrum der Wissenschaft 11/ 2001, S. 109) gute Startpunkte für das Studieren im Netz, angefangen bei - na wo wohl? - www.studieren-irre-netz.de."

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Date

22. 3.2004 14:46:50

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Date

10. 8.2007 14:22:21

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Content

Das Projekt gewann erst an Konturen, als Le Breton drei weitere Pariser Verleger für das Geschäft interessieren konnte. Als Herausgeber engagierten die vier Verleger 1746 Abbé Jean-Paul Gua de Malves, als Übersetzter Denis Diderot (1713-1784) und Jean Le Rond D'Alembert (1717-1783), einen glänzenden Astronomen und Mathematiker. Bevor die Arbeiten anfingen, zerstritten sich die Verleger mit Gua de Malves. Nun sollten Diderot und D'Alembert Herausgeber und Übersetzer werden. Das scheiterte zunächst daran, dass Diderot am 22. Juli 1749 nach einem berüchtigten Geheimbefehl ("lettre de cachet") verhaftet und in Vincennes inhaftiert wurde. Man hielt ihn - zu Recht, aber unbeweisbar - für den Verfasser der 1745 in Amsterdam anonym gedruckten Philosophischen Gedanken und traute ihm auch die schlüpfrigen Geschichten unter dem Titel Die indiskreten Kleinode (1748) zu. Während der Haft intervenierten die Verleger beim Kanzler d'Aguesseau. Dieser wie auch der Justizminister d'Argenson sahen in der Encyclopédie der philosophes" ein Projekt zum Ruhme Frankreichs und zur Schande Englands". Nach 103 Tagen kam Diderot wieder frei. Teile des Hofes und der Klerus beobachteten das Unternehmen Encyclopédie von Anfang an mit Misstrauen. Die Jesuiten vom Journal de Trévoux entdeckten im ersten Band ein Defizit: Es fehlten die Namen von Königen, Gelehrten, Heiligen", während viele heidnische Gottheiten" vorkamen. Sie machten die philosophes" unter dem erfundenen Wort eacouacs" zum Gespött. Noch 1952 charakterisierte die katholische Zeitschrift Études die Encyclopédie als die fürchterlichste Maschine, die jemals gegen die Religion in Stellung gebracht" wurde. Nachdem Abbé Jean-Martin de Prades - Autor des Artikels Gewissheit - in seiner Dissertation die These vertreten hatte, die Heilungen durch Jesus Christus glichen methodisch jenen des griechischen Arztes Äskulap, brach ein Sturm der Entrüstung aus. De Prades musste fliehen. Klerikale Einflüsterungen erreichten, dass der Staatsrat am 7. Februar 1752 gegen die ersten beiden Bände der Encyclopédie eine "scharfe Missbilligung" aussprach. Das war ein faktisches Verkaufsverbot, aber keine Rücknahme des Druckprivilegs. Man konnte nicht nur weiterarbeiten, sondern die Regierung bat die Herausgeber direkt weiterzumachen auch zum Schutz der Eigentumstitel der Subskribenten. Allerdings sollten künftig drei theologisch gebildete Zensoren jeden Artikel abzeichnen. Eingefädelt hatte das alles, wie Arthur M. Wilson, der beste Diderot-Kenner, gezeigt hat, Chrétien Guillaume de Malesherbes. Malesherbes war der Chef des Buchwesens und der Zensurbehörde - zugleich Freund und Förder der Encyclopédie.

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Footnote

Rez. in: JASIST 56(2005) no.11, S.1237-1238 (E. Yakel): "This book provides the profession with a cogent, thorough, and thoughtful introduction to digital reference. Janes not only provides the breadth of coverage expected in an introduction, but also depth into this important topic. Janes' approach is managerial or administrative, providing guidelines for reference work that can be applied in different settings. Janes creates a decision-making framework to help reference librarians make decisions concerning how, to what extent, and in what cases digital reference services will be delivered. In this way, Janes avoids dictating a "one-size-fits-all" model. This approach is the major strength of the book. Library administrators and heads of reference services will find the administrative approach welcome by helping them think through which digital reference policies and methods will best target core constituencies and their institutional environments. However, the book deserves a broader audience as professors will find that the book fits nicely in a general reference course. For all readers, the book is readable and engaging and also challenging and questioning. The book begins with a history of reference work, nicely positioning digital reference in this tradition and noting the changes wrought by the digital age. By doing this, the author establishes both continuity and change in reference work as well as the values surrounding this activity. These values are largely those from the library community and Support people's access to information as well as activities that support the use of information. Janes closes this chapter by noting that the continuing changes in demographics, technology, and connectivity will impact reference work in ways that are not yet imaginable. This introduction sets the tone for the rest of the book. Janes defines digital reference service as "the use of digital technologies and resources to provide direct, professional assistance to people who are seeking information, wherever and whenever they need it" (p. 29). This definition covers a lot of ground. Examples include everything from a public library answering email queries to commercial ask-an-expert services. While the primary audience is librarians, Janes continually reminds readers that many others perform reference activities an the World Wide Web. Furthermore, he cautions readers that there are larger forces shaping this activity in the world that need to acknowledged. In building a framework for decision-making, Janes outlines the types of digital reference service. This discussion covers the communieations modes, such as e-mail, chat, Web forms, etc. It also analyzes the modalities by which reference service is delivered: synchronous/ asynchronous. Using these two dimensions (communication method and synchronous/asynchronous), Janes presents the variety of contexts in which digital reference can take place and then outlines the strengths and weaknesses of each of these. This translates into a decision-making framework by which readers analyze their particular setting and then select the modes and modalities that world be most effective. This is a powerful device and demonstrates the many options (and perhaps also the obstacles) for providing digital reference service.