Use #Wikipedia as a source of reference

The Chronicle Review has a nice article about the paradigm shift that resulted from the growth of Wikipedia as a source of encyclopaedic information. Where you once went to a book store or a library to look up a fact, you now find it on the Internet in your Wikipedia.

There is one more paradigm shift possible, it is when authors on the Internet easily reference to Wikipedia when they refer to a subject that is not universally understood. What is a paradigm shift for instance..

It would be a paradigm shift because Wikipedia would be used as a credible source of Neutral point of View information external to the Wikimedia projects. This has huge benefits all way round;

• it provides a shared frame of reference on basic information
• it expands the number of readers of the Wikipedias
• it increases the "google rating" for the webpages that do refer
• the Wikipedias gain a community of people who want to ensure the quality of Wikipedia articles

 

Take for instance an organisation like Greenpeace; it is an international organisation and it has a web presence in many languages. They have many communities interested and involved in nature, in sustainability and many associated subjects. When the explanation of terminology is found in Wikipedia, the issues around a subject can be found in Wikipedia and the specific Greenpeace point of view can be made in its websites.

Organisations like Greenpeace have a rich community of people who know their subjects and as relevant its literatature. This will bolster the quality of the representation of their position in the Wikipedias and questionable sources will become more apparent with increased scrutiny.

Technically the syntax can be something like [[nl:onderwerp ]] or [[ru:предмет]]
Thanks,
      GerardM