On 01/27/2010 12:57 AM, Steven Krivit wrote: > At 02:27 PM 1/26/2010, you wrote: >> Just ignore it. Don't mess with free speech. > > I am editing papers for a REAL encyclopedia. Every once in a while > authors will submit papers that include references to Wikipedia. I tell > them all that such references are unacceptable. End of story.
<g> Actually, what defines "real"? Wiki has an awful lot of articles, a lot of generally good and well referenced information, and a huge user base. Is that a good measure of how "real" it is? As to references to Wiki, it's an encyclopedia, *not* a primary source, and of course another encyclopedia shouldn't reference it as a source! Viewing the space of all encyclopedias as a single entity, references from one encyclopedia to another are, in a sense, circular; references should point outside the space. I don't suppose you accept Encyclopedia Americana references either. And BTW Wiki isn't the only imperfect encyclopedia. If you could be a fly on the wall in the board room of Britannica I bet you'd find there are an awful lot of problems over there these days, too (tho their problems most likely all concern survival). > > s >
