Quality Over Quantity. What a Concept.

Clean copy eyed for Wikipedia: Founder wants free Internet encyclopedia entries to be less 'choppy'

By Brian Bergstein/
Associated Press
Saturday, August 5, 2006

CAMBRIDGE -- The founder of Wikipedia yesterday urged contributors to the free Internet encyclopedia to put more emphasis on quality instead of quantity.
 
With more than 1.2 million articles in English alone, Wikipedia already has met its goal of becoming a comprehensive encyclopedia, founder Jimmy Wales told more than 300 people at the start of "Wikimania," a three-day gathering of people devoted to Wikipedia and other community Web projects.

While it would seem an obvious choice, the Wikipedia founder's plea for quality instead of quantity would be welcome. Getting rid of silly links to every noun and verb that can be found, with little explanation or context, would also be helpful. We can deal with choppy writing if need be.

I have found myself drawn to Wikipedia more and more, even with its sometimes-questionable information. While researching my family's genealogy, Wikipedia was the place I turned to for an explanation of consanguinity. But given some of the sillier things that have made it onto the site, it's wise to continue to be wary.

Speaking of quantity, Prolific Canadian is king of Wikipedia
With more than 80,000 articles under his belt, Ottawa man is the on-line resource's busiest contributor