Marc Riddell schreef:
My fundamental question was, is, and will remain: who is actively overseeing the day-to-day growth of this organism with the wisdom, judgment, expertise and, yes, authority, to keep it in check?
Basically: we are. There are a few formal structures, like the ArbCom, but they are too small to have any direct influence on Wikipedia. So the day-to-day running of Wikipedia is done by us all, the editors.
Without such active oversight, this growth will develop into a jungle - beautiful to observe, but impossible to navigate without a very sharp instrument.
That is a very good description of Wikipedia.
PS: About a month or so ago, I proposed on this List to change the WP handle
from "The encyclopedia anyone can edit" to "Wikipedia: The Living
Encyclopedia". The post got absolutely no responses.
I don't like it. Why should we change a phrase which we have grown accustomed to, to a bland metaphore?
Eugene