thoughtcrumbs

Wikipedia authority

Lots of discussion recently about Wikipedia, particularly its inherent authority. Clay Shirky created a script to post "dashboard" metadata at the top of a Wikipedia entry: number of edits, number of editors, first edit date, and most recent edit date. At Many-to-Many, he discusses how these factors indicate the value of the entry, and stresses that Wikipedia is a process, not a product.

Matt Jones suggested adding a sparkline infographic ("data-intense, design-simple, word-sized graphics" --Tufte) showing revision history. Perhaps using a version of Viégas and Wattenberg's history flow tool, which I've discussed before.

Additionally, danah boyd explains some differences between vetted encyclopedias and Wikipedia, reminding us that open source reference allows for equal opportunity for contribution, not equal quality between entries.

Wired also has a story today about scaling and authority.