[Air-l] Wikipedia weakness

[Marshall Poe]

This fraud brings up a larger issue for Wikipedia, namely, the role of
expertise. I assume that this fellow assumed the identity of a professor
because he thought it would bring increased influence in the community (or
with The New Yorker?). If it did, I would say that's a good sign. My past
experience is that most Wikipedians don't give much consideration to
credentials when they are brought into discussions.  This is too bad, as it
scares off experts who might well contribute but who want just what Rodney
Dangerfield wanted--a little respect.

I organized a "Wikipedia Project" on Russian history aimed (inter alia) at
engaging professors/experts (real ones, that is) in Wikipedia clean up.
See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Russian_History

I asked all the members to list their credentials. Most did, as you'll see.
I know many of them as I'm a Russian historian, but many of them I don't
know at all. Should I be vetting them? Is that an emerging community
activity?

Best, Marshall Poe


On 3/8/07, Michael Zimmer <michael.zimmer at nyu.edu> wrote:
>
> I don't see this as a fundamental flaw with Wikipedia's structure -
> faked credentials (and improper vetting of them) can plague almost
> any organization or community:
>
> * Michael Brown at FEMA: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/
> 0,8599,1103003,00.html
> * George O'Leary (football coach): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
> George_O%27Leary#Notre_Dame_Controversy
> * "Security consultant" posing as Fed Agent to stalk "Brangelina":
> http://www.tmz.com/2006/09/14/fake-fed-wanted-to-get-near-brangelina/
>
> And, of course, it was the New Yorker (who has greater resources for
> fact-checking) who got fooled here just as much as the Wikipedia
> community....
>
> -mz
>
>
> -----
> Michael T. Zimmer
>   Doctoral Candidate, Culture and Communication, New York University
>   Student Fellow, Information Law Institute, NYU Law School
> e: michael.zimmer at nyu.edu
> w: http://michaelzimmer.org
>
>
>
> On Mar 8, 2007, at 3:20 PM, Homero Gil de Zuniga wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Once again Wikipedia raises controversy by the weakness of its very
> > structure. Although I guess that it is the same structure that
> > makes it an
> > attractive global encyclopedia.
> >
> > HGZ
> >
> >
> >
> > BBC:
> >
> > Fake professor in Wikipedia storm
> >
> > Internet site Wikipedia has been hit by controversy after the
> > disclosure
> > that a prominent editor had assumed a false identity complete with
> > fake PhD.
> >
> >
> >
> > Complete article:
> >
> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6423659.stm
> >
> >
> >
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