The Book Stops Here

Mary Ogden
LIBY 1210
March 17th, 2009



The Book Stops Here!



“The Book Stops Here” an intriguing article by Daniel Pink focused on the

good and the bad of Wikipedia, and the difference between Wikipedia and a regular

encyclopedia. Wikipedia is an online source that also millions of people to log on

and submit and edit entries on any subject they desire. Encyclopedias like

Britannica are written by experts with Masters degrees in the field and all of their

articles are peer-reviewed. The main difference in these two sources is where the

information is coming from. Britannia uses the “one best way” model. This means that

all of the information is as corrects as possible and it needs no more change.

Wikipedia is an example of the “all for one” approach, meaning the information is a

collection of everything that anyone in the world knows about it and it is always

open for discussion.

The expert approach is the approach best used to describe the way that an

encyclopedia like Britannia goes about their business. The “expert” approach uses

experts in the field they need information for and they are paid for their

information. This information is peer-reviewed by other experts in the same field.

This is a great approach in the sense that all of the information is going to be on

point and true. The information is not open to public debate because experts in the

field have put it together and that’s the way it stands. This method is also good

because teachers in the class room will accept information from students from these

“expert” sources. The largest problem with this method is the fact that information

is ever changing along with the history of our world. After the 911 attacks

Wikipedia most likely had new information up in minutes about the attacks. While

“expert” encyclopedias take close to a month to get the new information online.


Authority over information changes in every type of publication. In

Wikipedia for example, anyone who has an internet connection has authority over the

information. Just like the Sophomore in high school had as much control over that

information on Britain royalty that he was posting as did anyone who was in the

royal family that he was publishing articles about. When it comes to a news website

the only people with authority over that information is the people who report for

the news company. If Ed Werder of ESPN wants to post and article about Terrell Owens

on ESPN.com saying that Owens causes problems in his teams locker room the Cowboys

and Owens have no say on this information. Just like Wikipedia this information is

free to the public. When it comes to the respected encyclopedias like Britannia the

authority lies at the top (experts on the subject). All information in encyclopedias

in from experts on the subject with degrees on the subject and there is no debate

over whether it is correct or not.

After reading this article I have a hole new out look on how I find

information online. Before reading this I would have never turned to Wikipedia for

any kind of information and only used “expert” sources. This article made me realize

how use full Wikipedia can be when all you need is some information, and not a

scholarly source. Don’t get me wrong I will never be sighting Wikipedia as a source

in any of my papers, I will save that for sources like Britannia. But I will be

using it when all I need is some information to win an argument amongst friends.