Britannica not so great on the fact checking department after all
Posted by Clay Shirky
It’s so good, I don’t even want to comment:
A SCHOOLBOY with a fascination for Poland and wildlife has uncovered several significant errors in the latest — the fifteenth — edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Lucian George, 12, a pupil at Highgate Junior School in North London, was delving into the volumes on Poland and wildlife in Central Europe when he noted the mistakes.
1. Meme Engineer on January 27, 2005 1:05 AM writes...
The debate over authority versus folk knowledge suggests a hybrid approach in which authorities are corrected by individuals who may possess special knowledge about some topic, but not exhaustive knowledge of that topic. This will work best with authorities who are not afraid to admit the inherent difficulty of knowing anything for certain (e.g., the habitats of lesser-known animals).
Mr. Clay Shirky seems to be going overboard with his evident disdain for authorities; perhaps he has had too many bad experiences with elitism. Certainly, the world is full of crap and people who are full of crap, but that doesn't mean all authorities are full of crap.
The spelling of Puszcza Bialowieska is also wrong - it is transliterated from the Russian form. It is true that the forrest lies currently in both Poland and Bielarus, but when they are talking about the polish part they should use the polish name, I believe.
1. Meme Engineer on January 27, 2005 1:05 AM writes...
The debate over authority versus folk knowledge suggests a hybrid approach in which authorities are corrected by individuals who may possess special knowledge about some topic, but not exhaustive knowledge of that topic. This will work best with authorities who are not afraid to admit the inherent difficulty of knowing anything for certain (e.g., the habitats of lesser-known animals).
Mr. Clay Shirky seems to be going overboard with his evident disdain for authorities; perhaps he has had too many bad experiences with elitism. Certainly, the world is full of crap and people who are full of crap, but that doesn't mean all authorities are full of crap.
Permalink to Comment2. Zbigniew Lukasiak on January 27, 2005 5:15 AM writes...
The spelling of Puszcza Bialowieska is also wrong - it is transliterated from the Russian form. It is true that the forrest lies currently in both Poland and Bielarus, but when they are talking about the polish part they should use the polish name, I believe.
Permalink to Comment3. Branko Collin on January 27, 2005 1:38 PM writes...
"Britannica not so great on the fact checking department after all"
Not so great as what? Did you expect greatness? Based on what? How do you define greatness?
Or are you, as I expect, just taking cheap shots? Better leave that to (current and former) Britannica editors.
Permalink to Comment4. oedipa on January 28, 2005 2:05 PM writes...
Liek the other comments say: fun, but not significant. '12-year old finds factual errors in Wikipedia' wouldn't come anywhere close to being news.
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