extra credit assignment

Gary Petersen                                                                                                  11/19/14

1. What did wiki software allow Web users to do that the Mosaic browser did not? Wiki allowed users to modify web pages. Not having editing tools but by typing on web pages.
2. What do blogs and wikis have in common?  They both allow collaboration. Anyone could modify and use.
3. What problem did a young Jimmy Wales find with the World Book Encyclopedia?  That it had to be constantly updated. Once a book is written you cannot change it.
4. How was Jimmy Wales inspired by the World Book Encyclopedia to create Wikipedia?  Put the world book on the internet. Here it could constantly be updated.
5. How have encyclopedias inspired you in your own life?  They helped me with my homework. They took me to places I might never see.
6. Why did Nupedia fail?  After a year it only had 92 articles published. Another 150 in draft it was to slow.
7. How did wiki software change the ideas behind Nupedia?  People could write and change and update articles. Now articles could come from everywhere.
8. What is “crowdsourcing?”  Crowdsourcing is when you enlist the services of a number of people for a task. For example what Wikipedia does.
9. What do you think about the concept of “any fool in the world” being able to write articles for Wikipedia?  Its like graffiti if it is wrong it will be corrected. Most people want to do the right thing.
10. Do agree with the idea that “total idiots” could edit Wikipedia and of that being a good thing? Explain.  You will have idiots were ever you go. This will just make people who know want to call them out on it.
11. Why do you think Wikipedia grew so fast and became so popular in such a short amount of time?  Because people could always correct something that is wrong. This made it top notch and better than anything else.
12. Do you believe Sanger’s elitist attitude was a good thing or a bad thing for Wikipedia? A bad thing. Average people do have intelligence . 
13. What did you learn from the anecdote about the Wikipedia article on Einstein going to Albania for a passport in 1935?  You cant believe everything you read. Research what you read to make sure it is a fact.
14. Explain this quote from the article: “I can’t imagine who could have written such detailed guidelines other than a bunch of people working together...It’s common in Wikipedia that we’ll come to a solution that’s really well thought out because so many minds have had a crack at improving it.”  When so many different minds all have a say by the end there will be enough information to get it right.
15. The author of the article states that Wikipedia “grew organically.” What does he mean by that?  It grew without so many rules of who could and who could not. It was a community not a dictator.
16. How has Wikipedia “been the greatest collaborative knowledge project in history?”  So many different minds from all over the planet have injected there knowledge.
17. Based on your own opinion and experience with Wikipedia, do you agree with the above statement or disagree with it? Explain.  I agree with it because never before have so many people been able to get together for something so big. The internet made this possible.
18. What does the author mean by “wiki-crack?”  He means wiki-crack is the pleasure that a person gets from knowledge has to share.
19. Based on the article, do you believe Wikipedia is a reliable source of information?  Yes I do but make sure you read enough of the subject you are researching.
20. Do you believe its possible for a 16-year-old from New Jersey to write “insightful” Wikipedia articles?  Yes because he already did. I believe kids younger than that already have.
21. How do you feel about basing your own research on something a 16-year-old wrote on Wikipedia?  If I research it and it looks and sounds good. Why not. Some 12 years olds are already in college.
22. What does Jimmy Wales mean by this mission statement: “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge?”  He means by going on Wikipedia that this is now possible.
23. Do you agree or disagree with this mission statement?  Yes we are all just a button away from this knowledge with the internet.
24. Do you think Wikipedia has succeeded in its mission?  Beyond its wildest dreams. The enoyclopedia is a dinosaur.
25. Do you agree or disagree that ordinary people, people without degrees, can “be part of the process of creating and distributing knowledge?”   Yes everybody has intelligence in different areas. Everybody can contribute.
26. Based on your reading of the article, would you yourself use Wikipedia for your academic research? Yes I will use Wikipedia for my academic research. Not only would I but I have already done so.
27. Would you yourself like to write and/or edit Wikipedia articles in order to be “a part of the process of creating and distributing knowledge?” Why or why not?  Yes if I had the knowledge of a certain topic that was better than what was already written.