Wikipedia - It works

Below is a link to a rather long, academic article that argues why Wikipedia is as good as and even better than conventional Encyclopedias.

Anyone can add an article. Anyone can edit any article. Anyone can undo anyone's edits. Sounds like a formula for chaos, and indeed sometimes there are "Wikiwars" when an argument over an article (often political) begins. Some steering group helps govern these.

In practice, Wikipedia is amazingly orderly and professional.

I agree with the author that Wikipedia is a very useful resource. I use links to it in my own blog postings and e-mails. I visit it regularly to look things up. I also end up visiting it because others use it as a reference.

Greg added an entry for Rosary Army. Looking under the edits history it looks like others have come in and helped "tidy up" the article. I thinking the word organisation (a British spelling) is evidence of such tidying.

Article:
Free Software Magazine - The FUD-based Encyclopedia