[Air-l] Wikipedia wars again

[Isa Ducke]

For those of you who want to follow these editing wars...
Isa

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Frank Conlon" <conlon at U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
To: <H-ASIA at H-NET.MSU.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2006 11:03 AM
Subject: H-ASIA: Wikipedia usurped in entries on Hindu studies in the US


> H-ASIA
> March 13, 2006
>
> Wikipedia usurped in entries on Hindu studies in the United States
> ***********************************************************************
> Ed. note: Cross-post from RISA-L with permissionof Peter Gottschalk.  In 
> light of our earlier discussions on the Wikipedia phenomenon, this struck 
> me as of interest and relevance. 
>                        FFC ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: Peter Gottschalk <pgottschalk at wesleyan.edu>
>
> Colleagues,
>
> Wikipedia.org has been usurped to impugn specific scholars and Hindu
> studies in the US in general, omitting the far larger context of the work
> by both individuals and the scholarly community.  In particular,
> Wikipedia's entry on Wendy Doniger defines and rejects her work almost
> entirely within a frame of hurt Hindu sensibilities, an entry on Jeff
> Kripal defines him only in regard to allegations and controversy
> surrounding Kali's Child, and the entry for "Hinduism in the United
> States" simply dismisses all scholarship for its supposed shoddiness.
>
> Considering the unfortunately high reliance on this source of so many of
> our students and, perhaps, many members of the public, it would behoove
> those of us who would care to offer counter-perspectives.  Certainly hurt
> sensibilities and controversial scholarship merit attention, however, they
> do not merit all the attention in entries supposedly about individuals.
> For those who don't know, Wikipedia is a very popular information database
> developed collaboratively by its users.
>
> The article on Wendy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Doniger) begins
> with some basic background on her, listing academic affiliations and
> works, but without any broad perspective on her work or its general
> significance.  The text then moves to longer criticisms that reference
> "critiques" and "objections" deriving only from Rajiv Malhotra and
> Sankrant Sanu.  The external links portion shows a bit more balance, but
> most of the sources are negative, three being written by Malhotra and
> Sanu.  The entry itself offers only the shortest of responses of Wendy to
> her critics.  Many mistakes lace the list of her works.
>
> The article on Jeff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffery_Kripal), except
> for a reference to his position at Rice, defines him entirely by his work
> Kali's Child, omitting everything else of his scholarship.  At least
> Jeff's response to one of his critics, Swami Tyagananda, is included,
> although this is countered by a criticism from Malhotra.
>
> Meanwhile, within its entry "Hinduism in the United States"
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism_in_the_United_States), Wikipedia
> offers this under the subtitle "Scholarship": "Hinduism studies in
> American Universities has been under the spotlight recently for it's
> shoddy scholarship. With the increasing Hindu population in the country,
> gross errors & misrepresentations that may have passed through easily
> before are being caught and highlighted. An influential figure in the
> academy, Wendy Doniger, Professor of History of Religions, University of
> Chicago, has come under severe criticism for her work and that of her
> students."  "Shoddy scholarship" has a link to a Sanu piece and "students"
> to Malhotra's "Wendy's Child Syndrome."
>
> Answers.com, another online database, posts the Wikipedia all these
> entries in their entirety.
>
> If you'd like to participate in the editing of the entry and are
> unfamiliar with how this works (as was I until today), you can find
> answers at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction
>
> Personally, I plan on complaining to the organizers of Wikipedia that they
> can allow such one-sided entries about scholars (or any individuals)
> without any apparent effort at balance.
>
> Wikipedia recognizes the problems with its project, which has led to
> erroneous and damaging claims about individuals being posted in its
> entries.  It addresses these at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wikipedia
>
> Peter
>
> Peter Gottschalk
> Associate Professor
> Wesleyan University
> <pgottschalk at wesleyan.edu>
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