The Wiki, the Whole Wiki, and Nothing but the Wiki
30 January 2007
Fans of TV comedian Stephen Colbert may be familiar with a term he coined last year, Wikiality, “a reality where, if enough people agree with a notion, it becomes the truth.”
Colbert was referring to popular website Wikipedia, the online “encyclopedia” that anyone can edit.
The practice of referencing Wikipedia is often frowned upon in academia given the potential for erroneous information to be added by users, whether intentional or not. It’s shocking to discover then, that a New York Times article reports that US courts have been selectively referring to material from the site in judgments. In no less than 13 instances, this has taken place at the level of courts just below the Supreme Court. The practice poses two problems:
- The references may be inaccurate; and
- Even if accurate, the references are subject to change at any point in the future, making it difficult for any future decisions to refer back to the original or understand the context in which it was made.
Given recent reports of Microsoft offering to pay individuals to make changes to certain Wikipedia articles in which they have a vested interest, the credibility of the site as a definitive reference source again comes into question.
We can only hope these jurists continue to recognize the underlying basis of this resource and either corroborate the information with more traditional sources or limit its use altogether.
JN
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