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?
We'd like to attract and keep bona fide experts (as opposed to slap-happy amateur enthusiasts such as me). Yet historians and scientists with positions in academia and respectable records in publishing still seem to be staying away in droves. One expert on European history even left the project, because we could not maintain a congenial environment. (I fault myself as well.)
Surely the best writers are not concerned only with money. There might be some way to get an expert to "donate" some of their work, if they hold the copyright themselves or can got their university or publisher to agree. Such donations would be excellent starting points for freely-edited articles. And of course, if the original work is superb a link or mention of it would naturally remain embedded in the wiki article.
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.
Suppose each of us kicks in, say $10 a month -- or even $50 a month -- towards staff salaries. (It must be clearly settled beforehand what extra privileges subscribers would get: my vote would be for NONE WHATSOEVER.) For example, if twenty of us give $50 a month and fifty of us give $20 a month, and maybe a hundred more give $10 a month, that would be around $3,000 a month. If Jimbo could match that (not that he should, he's already done and is doing plenty) -- we would have $48,000 a year for staff.
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.
Ed Poor