On 23/01/2008, Steven Walling steven.walling@gmail.com wrote:
If I'm understanding you correctly, you're talking about the lack of English speaking experts on topics about non-English speaking countries?
No, I'm talking about credentialed/degreed people (and their pretenders) who can't bear the idead of writing a thousand words on the Simpsons. The kind of person that finds Citizendium attractive is the same that thinks that the Galileo article must morally be longer than the Paris Hilton one. Wikipedia doesn't make that kind of distinction. In other words, they're just like a wiki version of Britannica, which the world doesn't want or need. No person of my generation (I'm 20) would ever choose the online version of Britannica over Wikipedia, even if it was free.
If they haven't already, I imagine they will work out a system for subjects that Universities don't offer degrees in (although plenty of people have degrees in Media and could well write quality articles about the Simpsons). At first, they are likely to concentrate on traditional subjects, but once they've got those to a decent level, I expect they'll move onto the less traditional stuff.