Someone writes:
hi, i need help on my geography homework, i was
wondering if you could help?
''what is the name of the ocean current in the atlantic
to the west of the uk? and how does it affect our
climate?
We all want to be nice and helpful when someone asks us a
question; it is only natural. But there is a great danger
to directly answering questions like these: In a short
amount of time Wikipedia might become known as a place
where people can mail in requests for info, and then we
will be flooded with thousands of requests each month for
help on homework and research. We'd get questions from
people in junior high, high school, and college.
I think if we get such requests, we should tell them to
read the relevant articles on Wikipedia (as well as suggest
to them that they need to use multiple sources). The only
times we need to answer such questions is when the
questions reveal a gap in Wikipedia articles. (i.e. if
someone asks a good question that interests us, and
Wikipedia has nothing on that topic, then maybe its a good
idea to begin doing a little work on that topic.)
me too
errr...sorry, I agree
it would be nice as well, that people do not reach so easily the mailing
lists, so they could ask information on wikipedia itself. Perhaps the
way is not clear enough ?