[WikiEN-l] Re: Print "Wikipedia of thus-and-such"

[Daniel P.B.Smith]

> From: Nikola Smolenski <smolensk at eunet.yu>
> If this becomes a serious issue, I think that it could be solved by 
> publishing
> separate topical encyclopedias. For example, "Wikipedia of 
> Informatics",
> "Wikipedia of Mathematics" and so on, for every topic that is complete.

Actually, I was thinking about this myself. I think it should be
seriously considered. Browsing Wikipedia it seems clear that
unevenness of coverage extends all the way up to the
most major subject areas.  Physical sciences, engineering,
and mathematics have a much higher quality level in general
than life science, medicine, and "the humanities" generally.

Restricting it to a topical encyclopedia has other advantages,
too. Cuts down the amount of work for the first publication,
makes it easier to put one of our many good feet forward,
makes for more interesting "sequels" than "second edition"
or "Wikipedia 2005," etc.

Maybe it's timid of me to point out that this also allows
sidestepping some of the areas most subject to POV disputes
(and minimizing the chances some egregious
troll-authored content might make it into print due to
some momentary lack of vigilance).


--
Daniel P. B. Smith, dpbsmith at world.std.com alternate: 
dpbsmith at alum.mit.edu
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