Earth Day and Wikipedia

Happy Earth Day! The above image is Recycling Yard #6 by photographer Chris Jordan.

I found this article while browsing on Digg yesterday, and thought it would be appropriate to share for Earth Day. Lawrence Solomon of the Financial Post wrote the piece titled Wikipedia's Zealots about how the editorial process can be biased, especially concerning controversial topics.

The subject he was examining was climate change, beginning with a Wikipedia entry on Naomi Oreskes,  professor of history and science studies at the University of California in San Diego. Solomon noticed some discrepancies in the entry, and exercising the power of the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, made the changes. A Wikipedia "editor" deleted the changes, and got into an editing war with Solomon. Solomon even confirmed the facts with the scientist they were debating about, Mr. Benny Peiser, but the editor refused to back down.

After doing some research, Solomon learned that the Wikipedia editor had used her power to edit all of the entries on climate change to reflect her own point of view. Just another reason to be careful what you believe when using a site providing user-generated content. For more serious, academic subjects, you're much better off  using a more credible source.

For more on using Wikipedia effectively, check out our Web Guide to Wikipedia.

And for some Earth Day reading, the Web Guide to Green Living.

Katie Hartsough
Audience Development