The Faith-Based Encyclopedia
by Robert McHenry, TCS: Tech Central Station, 11/15/2004.

An interesting article. As McHenry, a former editor in chief of the Encyclop¾dia Britannica. notes:

Then comes the crucial and entirely faith-based step:

3. Some unspecified quasi-Darwinian process will assure that those writings and editings by contributors of greatest expertise will survive; articles will eventually reach a steady state that corresponds to the highest degree of accuracy.

Does someone actually believe this? Evidently so. Why? It’s very hard to say.

McHenry’s argument goes to the heart
of much of the problem our users face when using
the Internet for information. When it is good, it is very very, good and when it is bad it is, well, very, very bad, if not horid, misleading, inaccurate, etc.
How do you tell the difference? What is the role of the library?

Enjoy! A-and a tip of the hat to /. where the usual discussion (of what value…?) ensues…

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