On 3 Dec 2005 at 23:14, Christopher D. Green wrote: > An intersting NYT article for those of you who were praising Wikipedia > last week. > http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/weekinreview/04seelye.html > (Registration required -- quick and free) >
Interesting and disturbing. I have a counter-example, curiously enough also from the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/international/europe/02ryan.html). The article is an obituary for a Nazi death camp monster named Hermine Ryan. Although the obituary ran on Dec 2/05, it reports her death as occuring on April 19, 1999, hardly a current event. That's because no one noticed at the time. Except, as the NY Times reports, "it is noted on the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia". You could check it out. Another example I've been meaning to mention which seems appropriate for this post concern one of the greatest of British heroes--Lord Horatio Nelson (1758- 1805). There are two stories about him: 1) He wore an eye-patch to conceal an eye blinded in battle; 2) Before he died of his injuries at the Battle of Trafalgar he said to his flag captain, Thomas Hardy, "Kiss me, Hardy". True or false? According to a recent article by Dr. Colin White, the Director of the Trafalgar 200 exhibit at the National Maritime Museum and an eminent Nelson scholar, (1) is false [blind in one eye but no eye patch] and (2) is true. [According to White, the Victorians were so scandalized by this apparent dying homoerotic sentiment on the part of their great hero that they instead claimed that Nelson suddenly began speaking in Turkish--"Kismet, Hardy"] (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/trafalgar_waterloo/nelson_01.shtml ) In our last exchanges, we discussed the sneering belittlement of Wickipedia by a former editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and I pointed out that Wikipedia was right on the money on Pavlov's bell while Britannica got it wrong. How do the two do on the Nelson stories? Wikipedia is again right on both counts. Britannica doesn't mention either, but instead relates that Hardy kissed _him_, with no mention of a request from Nelson [I have no idea whether Hardy actually did]. Wikipedia also debunks the "Kismet" story on which Britannica is silent, and further notes that while "Kiss me, Hardy" were dying words, they were not his last. My verdict: Any encyclopedia needs to carefully checked against primary sources, and Wikipedia appears particularly vulnerable to mischief. However, it seems to have a greater supply of the kind of information that one would want to check in an encyclopedia. Fact-checking of my own: in a previous post I said that the Sherbrooke, Quebec little newspaper, _The Record_ had "perhaps a few hundred" subscribers. The number seems to be closer to 5,000 (total circulation, 'though), which still puts it just slightly behind the New York Times. Also, Conrad Black owned the newspaper on two separate occasions. See http://members.tripod.com/~Hughdoherty/history.htm Or you could just look it up on Wikipedia. They mention Black's ownership (once, anyway). Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lennoxville, QC J1M 1Z7 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
