On 7/16/07, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Well, to the
extent that those schools or libraries are publicly
funded I'm not sure I agree that it's strictly "their choice" (depends
on who the "they" is), but I'm also not convinced that the decision is
the wrong one.
You think schools are right to block Wikipedia? I would think teaching
their pupils how to correctly use encyclopedias would be the better
choice.
Yes, I think in some situations schools are right to block Wikipedia.
I certainly don't plan on letting my son access the website
unsupervised when he's ten, and I sure hope whatever school I send him
to does the same.
Traditional encyclopedias are one thing. Encyclopedias with the
explicit content contained in Wikipedia when it's not vandalized are
another thing. And "encyclopedias" which encourage alteration by
anyone for any reason without any review are yet another thing. The
latter two are both reasons that I think schools are sometimes in the
right to block Wikipedia (it contains explicit content even when not
vandalized, and is editable by anyone).
Anthony