Government in a Wiki World: Part 5

The Encyclopedia Britannica just announced that it is adopting a number of wiki principles in developing and offering its product. http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/06/ency.html For centuries (literally), Britannica has reigned as the world’s premier encyclopedia. Its entries have been deemed authoritative to the point that scholars are not embarrassed to footnote them in their scholarly works.

Britannica has depended on experts to write its entries. This served them well until the arrival of Wikipedia, whose entries are developed dynamically by large numbers of “amateurs” who, through a process of checks and balances, manage to produce detailed and (mostly) accurate content. While the Britannica approach provides accurate material, this material is almost instantly dated and remains so until updated some time in an undetermined future. Entries in Wikipedia, in contrast, can be updated daily.