[Wikipedia-l] Propects for future growth

[Ray Saintonge]

Poor, Edmund W wrote:

>Can a few hundred Wikipedians make a world-class encyclopedia? Will all of human knowledge fit on Jimbo's server farm? Is there a way to keep such a massive collection free of vandalism yet freely changeable?
>
>Much as I admire the spirit of pure voluntarism, I must say that Larry is right about the need for paid staff. We already have a sponsor for the server and bandwidth, and although the physical expenses might be dropping I haven't heard anyone volunteering to take that burden off of Jimbo's shoulders. 
>
>What do we need paid staff to do? Primarily, reach out to the academic and professional community and seek their help. With a modest budget for travel to conferences, or for payments to copyright holders, such a leader could bring in some very high quality material.
>
The presence of paid staff can profoundly affect the nature of a 
volunteer organization.  A tendency develops to depend on them for all 
sorts of things that people should be doing for themselves.  I've seen 
several edit wars where someone has lamented that Larry was no longer 
around to settle the argument.  A part of growing up is being able to 
find your own way to settle arguments without waiting for a thunderbolt 
from Zeus.  

Ec.

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