[WikiEN-l] Re: Suggestions for a work-safe encyclopedia

[Stan Shebs]

BJörn Lindqvist wrote:

>>>This isn't something we can do anything about.  Perhaps you could try
>>>voting for some sane congresscritters.
>>>
>>I *knew* I shouldn't have mentioned Congress, but I was hoping
>>you wouldn't focus on that and ignore the key point, which is
>>that this happens at all kinds of companies and government
>>agencies around the world whether you like it or not. It's just
>>
>
>We would also like for the Saudi Geological Survey's professionals to
>contribute data to Wikipedia. I've heard that they are a very
>open-minded bunch. However, SGS is attached to the Ministry of
>Petroleum and Mineral Resources and it would be very unfortunate if
>something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman popped up while Fahd
>bin Abdul Aziz visits the office.
>
Indeed that's a very good point. The way I look at it is purely
utilitarian; would the Saudis be able to contribute a large
amount of good new content? If so, I would look for ways to
accommodate their sensitivities. After all, WP is supposed to
be a encyclopedia for everybody, not just another vehicle for
Europeans and Americans to impose their cultural standards on
the rest of the world, right?

To put it another way, if you had to make a choice between
a Kate Winslet picture and a thousand subject matter experts
working on WP fulltime, which would you go for? I'd delete
the image in a second.

Stan