Wikipedia

Introduction
Wikipedia is a communal encyclopedia created by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger that allows people to collaborate by writing and editing online encyclopedia articles. Although it is used by many to prompt discussion and aid in quick retrieval of facts on a variety of subjects, some controversy has been associated with Wikipedia because editors can easily add suspect information to the articles. In all of its articles, Wikipedia demands that its authors/editors use a neutral point of view in order to present the information in an unbiased way.

History and Characteristics
Wikipedia started off as a sub-project of Nupedia. However, Wikipedia eventually branched off because members of Nupedia, an online encyclopedia with articles written by experts, felt that Wikipedia diminished Nupedia’s credibility (Sidener). Wikipedia has articles written in a variety of languages and is characterized by the ability to edit the online articles anonymously. Wikipedia also stresses the idea that its articles are created by a community of editors and that no one person owns an article on Wikipedia. The search engine index is also another feature on Wikipedia that makes it extremely user friendly and easy to find information on various topics.



Controversy
Some controversy has occurred in regards to the credibility of Wikipedia as an actual encyclopedia source. Most librarians, professors, and members of academia still remain firm in their position that Wikipedia does not classify as a legitimate source for research (Boyd). Many members of academia uphold this viewpoint since Wikipedia users have no idea what the skill level or authority of an author/editor of a particular Wikipedia article might be. Also, because some articles have limited contributors, many members of academia maintain that certain articles are weaker than others.

Restrictions
Content on Wikipedia is subject to copyright laws in Florida because the host servers are located there. For the English Wikipedia, articles must be about an encyclopedic topic and cannot include dictionary definitions. Wikipedia also maintains “standards of nobility” meaning that information should be found on the topic in reliable secondary sources (Sidener). All Wikipedia articles are to be written from a neutral point of view as well, in order to allow the reader to make interpretations about the topic discussed.