Online Reviewers Beware: Do you see what I see?

Writing a comment, review, about a product, service or any thing is today common. But the outcome of such a common practice is scarey. The online sites with anonymous reviewers (esp., writing negative reviews) is the most challenging one.

• Online Reviewers Beware: You Can Get Sued -- Time Everyone's a critic these days, but defamation laws still exist in the Internet age -- "The Virginia Supreme Court’s ruling is an important defense of people’s right to go online and express their views. But it is also a reminder that anyone who crosses the line may have to pay up — big time." ++ 9 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Trust Online Reviews
• Be careful what you write: that online review could get you sued, By James Armstrong and Mark McAllister Global News

TORONTO – You might want to re-evaluate your plan to write a negative review about a local business – if they don’t like it, you could get sued.

There is a bevy of websites asking for you to review every company from the local convenience store to WalMart.

But be careful what you write in the supposed anonymity of the internet, as it could land you in legal trouble.

• A Point of View: How to get your own back on your critics, BBC -- Most authors dread unfavourable reviews from the critics - but there is an effective way to deal with detractors, explains Adam Gopnik. 

• Online ratings dangers: Critical review of doc results in lawsuit, Associated Press -- A Minnesota doctor took offense when a patient’s son posted critical remarks about him on some rate-your-doctor websites, including a comment by a nurse who purportedly called the physician “a real tool.” 
• Critical Review, Tips for WritingThis is a featured page -- cleary.edu Writing a Critical Review - Article or Movie
• Critical Reviews - OWL - Online Writing Lab - LibGuides at Louisville Seminary
• My New Amazon Petition, by JOE KONRATH

You may have read that bestselling author Anne Rice has joined an online petition, started by Todd Barselow, requesting that Amazon:

"revise their policies regarding anonymity when it comes to writing product/book reviews and for participation in the forums. Reviewers and forum participants should not be anonymous. By removing their anonymity and forcing them to display their real, verified identities, I believe that much of the harassment and bullying will cease."

As of today's date, this petition has been signed by more than 6000 people, seeking to put an end to Mean Anonymous People on the Internet (MAPI.)

PS.Image courtesy: http://liberalarts.udmercy.edu/

On  a different shelf  (what's not that big about reviews):

• Frustrated Scholar Creates New Way to Fund and Publish Academic Work
• High Stakes Criticism: The Case for Academic Gossip

The absent of comment is shameful. There’s a popular misconception that gossip is harmful. It often is, but gossip is a complex thing: whatever harm it inflicts is a direct function of its main virtue. Gossip is a socializer, a community-builder, a way of establishing ethical, social and intellectual baselines. Its perniciousness-
–which is real, and which I don’t mean to minimize—is a result of what gets excluded from that community-building: a fence will always have an outside. There are reasons to treat gossip with care: too often it reinforces extant power dynamics (the good old boys’ network is the gossipiest institution in history). And it often gets derailed by trivialities, mistaking the personal for the professional. We aren’t and shouldn’t be in the business of gossiping about how academics dress, or who’s sleeping with whom. (At least, not anymore than we already are.)

Reviewing website: Best Practices

Here is a best practice approach in evaluating Website:

Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology ( WCAG-EM ) @ W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Draft 7 February 2013

Application of this Methodology
The methodology defined by this document is flexible to allow its implementation in different situations and contexts. It is not required to carry out any of the steps and activities defined by this methodology in any particular sequence. For proper application of this methodology, use all the following Methodology Requirements:

1: Define the Evaluation Scope
2: Explore the Target Website
3: Select a Representative Sample
4: Audit the Selected Sample
5: Report the Evaluation Findings

Results, reports, accessibility statements, and performance scores can only be claimed to be in accordance with this methodology when the evaluation carried out meets these Methodology Requirements.

See also Google's approach
See also: Other best practices, worth visualizing:

Visual Appeal

What or Personality

Where or Design & Layout

How or Reader Usability

Why or Functionality

Meeting browser / visitor expectations, Adapted from: graphic-design.com

When or Interactive Features (dynamic not static)

Which or Content (and context)

Why or Layout (and site plan),Adapted from: Yellow Bridge Interactive's Checklist

How to use the Website

 Website of the Month guidelines ACRL

2013 Annual Website Review Checklist (with metrics to measure web sights)

Website Title, Website URL, Category to which it belongs (using a self designed or Library of Congress categories)

Overall Rating:
5 star- This website is really good! It doesn't need any changes.
4 star- The website is good. I would only change a few things.
3 star- The website is okay. It could use some major changes.
2 star- The website is bad. It needs a lot of improvement to be good.
1 star- The website is awful. I will never visit it again.
Adapted from: Review A Website | SmartGirl Suggests

Like ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ for books: reviews to use

Greg Quill, Toronto Star,
Extract:

A couple of young Canadian web specialists have come up with a useful tool that will help you select good books to read, using the reviews of mainstream literary critics. Taking their cues from Rotten Tomatoes, the popular website that aggregates the work of professional movie reviewers around the world, Sarnia native Rahul Simha and his tech-savvy buddies, Canadian Vish Chapala and American Mohit Aggarwal, have built a website, idreambooks.com, that collects, aggregates and links the published works of professional book reviewers.continue reading

Federated Search - What's in a name?

Amazon.com Widgets

'Federated search' is also known as, meta-search, cross-search, combined-search, integrated search and aggregated-search. First, it is about simultaneously searching, with one-click, in several electronic sources. Second, it is about getting all the search results displayed in a single browser.

But then, some tend to use the term, Federated search, for searching OPAC / Union Catalogs / serial holdings, see: 360 Search service and R-search; and some extend to searching Websites (not just the surface web, they attempt to reach the deep web), see: here and here -- the latter refers to an example of Dogpile, as an aggregator (see much more on meta-search in relation to Search Engines, yahoo, google, bing, etc.).

On the same shelf:

Federated Search - Reading now

Blog Reviews - Willowby Woods

Blog Title: Willowby Woods a witch’s forest of piffle, poetry and painting
Blog URL: http://www.willowbywoods.com/
Former Blog URL: http://witchwoman.wordpress.com/
Blogger: Crystal Raven
Blog's Date of migration: August 12, 2008
Blogger's Profile: http://willowbywoods.com/about-2
"This site is about my daily life as a witch, mother, wife, poet and artist. I will also touch upon minimalism, home organization and time management. "
Subject Profile: Development and Growth Art
Tags:Book of Shadows Hedge Witch Series Piffle Poems Theory Tidbits
Tag Cloud @ Blogcatalog:

book of shadows
bs
children
family
hedge
witch series
life
personal development
piffle
sabbat
Spirituality
the artist's way
the hedge witch series
tidbits
winter solstice
witchiness

Strength: Good design. Netmechanic analysis gives five star to each: a) Link Check and b) HTML Check & Repair. Overall technically (above, right side) there are no major issues, going by this automated roundup.
The tags or Categories are well organized and user-friendly. More subject-wise tags tell you what the blog is all about: Tags: poetry Mental Illness witchcraft pagan fine art persona;

Layout is cool and the content is well spread in first and second columns (and a third column hangs).
Navigation is easy and presents no problem

Weakness: No major weaknesses to report. Minor issues include: a) the third column can be used to add content--instead of leaving it blank; and b) there is no direct link to archives (The heading: Dusty old Tomes, leads you to comment section, not to the old posts).

What do others say about this blog [This blog is currently rated a 5.00 out of a possible 5 based on 4 comments. ]:

• Mylissa: I really like your blog. Very interesting!
• rani: Wonderful blog, from which we can all learn a lot. Thanks.
• Cassandra: great personal and insightful blog. she is true to herself and i love that!
• Ruben Ricart: Great Blog! I have the same theme for one of my blogs.
• The Review Guy- Clear, crisp, simple, smooth. All words I would use to describe your blog layout. I love simplicity.
• Blog Review DailyNot only is the author a witch, she is also a pretty good poet… Witch Woman is a blog that is interesting and scary at the same time…
• KatYou have an amazing way of putting the facts down, without sugar coating them and making them touch the hearts of the reader.
• MelindaI love your site! I find your writing so inviting–and I love the way you explain your beliefs in such a matter - of - fact way that is easy to understand. I love your blog–and think you are a great addition to the blogging world.

Recommendation: Good job. The content is focused. The design is cool, the site is not overloaded. This site is of interest to all those who wish to look at life with an alternative perspective. The author synchronizes mental illness, creativity and practical approaches that work and work well.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

On the same shelf of Spirituality on the Web, see more in my book:



Here is a sample from inside the Book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives--full of resources that will facilitate building bridges in a Multifaith society.

Blog Reviews - this time this space

Blog Title: This time this space: Personal development, growth & relationships
Blog URL: http://thistimethisspace.com/
Blogger: timethief
Blog's Date of birth: April 23rd, 2007
Blogger's Profile: http://thistimethisspace.com/about/
Blog profile: http://thistimethisspace.com/about/
Subject Profile: thistimethisspace personal development, growth & relationships blog contains information and techniques I use for transforming and improving my life.
Tags:
Aromatherapy Beauty Tips Blogging Children Climate Change Conscious Living Cooking Creative Visualization Depression Dreaming Essential Oils Featured Articles Fibromyalgia Goal Setting Health Humor Imagery Inspiration Internet Relationships love massage Meditation Personal Development Personality Poetry and Quotes Politics Psychology Rants and Opinions Recipes Relationships Relaxation Techniques Self Help Sensuality Sexuality Sleep Social networking Spirituality Time Management Uncategorized Vegetarian Diet and Recipes Wisdom womens issues wordpress.com wordpress.org Yoga

Tag Cloud @ Blogcatalog:

blogging
children
communication
conscious living
election 08
featured articles
health
Imagery
internet relationships
personal development
Psychology
relationships
self help
sexuality
Spirituality

Blog Posts Frequency: January 2009 (3)December 2008 (8)November 2008 (10)October 2008 (9)September 2008 (6)August 2008 (6)


Strength: The title truly reflects the author's idea of being in-time and this is reflected in the four themes: Health, Personal Development, Relationships, and Sexuality);
The taglines are detailed and are rightly called categories (most bloggers forget that they are classfying the information into some categories, and not just simply tagging--incidentally, tagging is the fashion of the day);
Layout is cool and the content is well spread in two columns;
About Me page tells you about the blog, and about the author;
Sidebar is decently organized with mouse-over feature; and the themes (mentioned above) are well explained.
navigation is easy and presents no problem

Weakness: There is no major issue. However, one minor technical issue bothers. The non-techy audience fails to read the full article (in each post). They don't see the idea that if they click on the title of a post, they can read the full article. Using ... (three dots) without any indication of continuity may be avoided or be replaced with a better substitute.

First post: This time ~ This space
Bottomline of the First Post: "Until we recognize that the crisis in the way we humans govern ourselves is due to viewing ourselves as being separate and apart from the environment that sustains all, no real changes will be made."
What do others say about this blog:

• darkspark: inspired writing. a happy mix of topics that readers will always find some value from.
• Stephen Wilson: What a great blog. Very peaceful, yet very open. I think it's what most people set out to do, but few realize.
• G.Sannino: I really am blown away at how well you write. I enjoyed reading your affirmation page. Sometimes we forget to do a lot of those things. The design the layout is very professional. Thanks for putting it out there.
• Kanishk Patel: Hey that is one gr8 blog and great collection of postall the post looks to be from heart
• techno: ...after reading this article u touch my heart. u r very soft but ur approaching style may be can't understand.... ok keep going. thnx... touch ur deep earn.
• Robert E. Lee: Your personal blog is wonderful. I spent more time there, than I have ever spent on a blog before. Very well researched and written. Your words draw people in and you can't stop reading.
• Scott Rose: TimeThief and her work are an asset not only to the community at Blog Catalog, but to the blogging community at large
• Alex Great: Good stuff time, I was browsing around your blog and wanted to write a comment but kept reading and reading. I like the way your blog is cross linked too.
• Sheila: When entering onto this site, I feel warmth, invited, not overwhelmed. This site gives me motivation, my own personal growth from reading information on this site.
• Many many many more fans @ BlogCatalog

Recommendation: Very useful information for all those who are interested in personality development and related themes. Prompts further study and research with its excellent documentation (each posts provides with reports, case studies, etc.)

See also some related titles @ Amazon:

Blog Reviews - Me, a writer of movie scripts

Blog Title: Me, a writer of movie scripts
Date of birth: June 9, 2008.
Blogger Profile: Désirée: Writer of movie scripts.
Subject Profile: Writing Cinema.
Blog Posts Frequency (2008 sample): August (20); July (11); June (12)
Strength: Creative writing, Educating, Scripting.
Weekness: None.
First post: So, I have become a blogger
Bottomline of the First Post: So why become a blogger? I want to "meet" others, share the love of writing, share ideas, get feedback.

Topics / Themes:

• Blake Snyder (1)


• Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (5)


• Characters (9)


• Contrasts (2)


• Current project (10)


• Early writing (6)


• Examples (2)


• Exercise (4)


• Final Draft (2)


• Goals (3)


• Language (2)


• Linda Seger (4)


• Mix (1)


• Reflections on events and news (3)


• Reviews (4)


• Set-up (1)


• Stories from life (5)


• Writing action (1)


• Writing dialog (2)


• Writing process (14)

What do others say about this blog:

• I like the thoughts on everyday events from this specific script view point.


• If you have ever wondered what goes on in the mind of a writer, this is a blog that you must visit--time and time again!!! much more
  

Recommendation: If you are interested in movies and about movie scripts, dnor's blog will be in your most frequented blog-roll.

Federated Search - Reading now

The term federated search is also known as, meta-search, cross-search, combined-search, and aggregated-search. First, it is about simultaneously searching, with one-click, in several electronic sources. Second, it is about getting all the search results displayed in a single browser. And the book I am reading is Federated Search by Christopher N. Cox

I recommend the book for a basic understanding on the emerging theme of federated search strategies, especially about American academic libraries’ experiences in this sphere.

When success breeds failure

PS. This is not a review from my desktop.

The Self-Destructive Habits of Good ...
Popular business literature is full of stories of great companies and their invincibility. But with corporate lifecycles coming down at an alarming pace, that doesn’t seem true anymore....

Well known academic Jagdish Sheth is closely watching a clutch of hugely successful companies like Google and Cisco. He is convinced that on their way to success, they have unintentionally acquired certain bad habits which might lead to their downfall. Says Sheth, “With success, Google will become arrogant and complacent. Google is today’s avatar of Microsoft, which is yesterday’s avatar of IBM.” Sheth is convinced that Infosys is treading the same path. And Cisco? “Cisco is succeeding so very well right now that it is underestimating Chinese competition from Huawei,” he says. ...

Jagdish 'Jag' Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta School of Business. An acclaimed expert in Marketing, Sheth is the author and co-author of books like The Rule of Three and Tectonic Shift.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

When a book gets really popular, like The Time Traveler’s Wife, then I’m sure I don’t want to read it. When I finally got over myself and read it, it was terrific. This is just probably my need to be special, or something. Thus spake: Ted!

See also: Same shelf and aisle, The Sheila Variations: Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Strangely enough, I cringed from reading Harry Potter.

NB. Web analytics, Web metrics, and e-metrics are expanding their scope everyday. Here is a focus on measuring the performance of vendors (aka brokers, distributors, etc.), beneficial for information professionals, esp. in Third World.

Efficiency analysis of brokers in the electronic marketplace

Virgílio A.F. Almeida^12a, Wagner Meira Jr.^3*,a, Victor F. Ribeiro^b, Nivio Ziviani^4a,b

^aDepartment of Computer Science, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
^bMiner Technology Group, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

Abstract:

In this paper we analyze the behavior of e-commerce users based on actual logs from two large non-English e-brokers. We start by presenting a quantitative study of the behavior of e-brokers and discuss the influence of regional and cultural issues on them. We then discuss a model that quantifies the efficiency of the results provided by brokers in the electronic marketplace. This model is a function of factors such as server response time and regional factors. Our findings clearly indicate that e-commerce is strongly tied to local language, national customs and regulations, currency conversion and logistics, and Internet infrastructure. We found that the behavior of customers of online bookstores is strongly affected by brand and regional factors. Music CD shoppers show a different behavior that might stem from the fact that music is universal and not so language dependent.

What book would you most want your kids to read?

PS. This is not my comment. Thanks to Prof. Norma Bruce Faculty Emeritus, Ohio State University Libraries, for her creative visualizations.

Here's a really odd response, showing great narrowness of mind and ignorance of what's on the shelves of bookstores and libraries, from an Ohio State University Professor of English, Kathy Fagan:

"I would be glad for my kids to read anything. Except maybe books by Anne Coulter." onCampus, Sept. 20, 2007, p. 16

See? Didn't I tell you about banned books starting in the selection process? I wonder what sort of grades she gives to conservatives. A sample of her poetry

Best Practices in Book Marketing

Interesting insight and Web sight of authors to promote books:

Wiki Demystified - Plus Google and Minus Google, and No Google

Two stories motivated this post:

Search Google without wikipedia - a Firefox search plugin

Recently there has been quite a stir within the SEO community with people seeing a huge dominance of wikipedia in the Google search results (Graywolf has been one of the more vocal critics recently with a whole load of posts - although he’s been writing about it for some time).

But don’t just take Greywolf’s word for it - there’s plenty of articles about this, most notably recently the google cache wrote about how 96.6% of wikipedia articles rank in the top 10 of google.

It has been noticed outside the world of SEO as well - PR Blogger has just written an analysis of Fortune 100 companies’ wikipedia pages.

Yahoo gets upper hand over Google
"Larry Freed, president of Foresee Results which did the survey for the university, pointed out that users don't see anything different in Google's portal from what they saw three years ago. But Yahoo has refurbished its portal and gained in points." More on this Yahoo! Overtakes Google in Latest American Customer Satisfaction Index survey

My 2 cents:
The above search result, limiting search, is and was a common practice already and offered by Google. What's new that adds with a plugin? I don't know.

FYI. Search Google with a minus sign (or go to advance search feature and select: without the words), and see the results for: medicine -wiki, -wikipediahere and here for medicine here (without any search restrictions)

Wikipedia edits

There was significant interest in our piece yesterday on the online tool that shows the identity of organisations where employees have changed Wikipedia pages.

The focus of the story was changes the CIA had made to pages, but other organisations - including The Vatican, the US Democratic Party and US company Diebold - didn’t escape our attention.

New tool exposes self-edits in Wikipedia

A new tool can help trace anonymous Wikipedia edits -- and improve the reliability of the online encyclopedia.

DUSSELDORF, GERMANY (08/16/2007) - A word of caution about editing entries "anonymously" in Wikipedia: a tool has been developed that can show who made the changes.

Organizational Anonymous Editing of the Wikipedia for Public Relations Benefits


My 2 cents:
Does identifying the organization or collective group of people editing it (more so do that without expertise), doesn't increase or decrease the value of tool. And comparing this Wiki, with Enclyclopedia Britannica has already been dealt in the media: Wikipedia study 'fatally flawed'

How To Find Sites Faster Online Without Using Google by Rohit Bhargava

See also my previous posts:

Top 7 Alternatives to Wikipedia

'Wiki' Wins Place in Oxford English Dictionary

Wikipedia and Academia Hit News Headlines Again

Is this yet another Wiki in Library and Information Science

Researchers Turn Web Blather to Books

Editorial: Ten Years of Reviewing the Web, 1997–2007

PS. This is not a review from me.

Source:
CHOICE August 2007
IF IT’S AUGUST, THIS MUST BE THE WEB ISSUE
Web X

Nine years ago this month, Choice published its first issue devoted to the Web. That August 1997 special issue, Web I, was a milestone in many ways. It contained Choice’s first Web reviews, some 190 of them. It was, so far as we can tell, Choice’s first August issue. And to our subscribers, who received twelve instead of eleven issues (July-August is combined), it was an example of a lagniappe, that delightful New Orleans practice of rewarding one’s customers by giving them a little something extra.

That little something extra has evolved over the years into something a bit larger. Today’s Web issue is hard to distinguish from a regular installment of the magazine. In fact, with 756 reviews and an expanded set of editorial features that includes Choice’s first ever Outstanding Academic Web Site list (page 68)—not to mention Laura Cohen’s bibliographic essay “Blogs in Academia: A Resource Guide”(page 7), the 2006 edition of Susanne Bjorner’s “Buying Guide: Online Resources for Academic Libraries,” and “Recent & Forthcoming Internet Publications, 2006-2007” (page 17)—Web X is actually one of this year’s largest issues.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of Web X is that it exists at all. That wasn’t something those of us who were present at the creation of Web I ever anticipated. Web I, we thought, was a one-time special production whose primary purpose was to announce that Choice was now reviewing the Web. continue reading

Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means

by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, the nation's foremost expert in the new science of networks,

Linked: Networks from Biology to the World Wide Web
Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, professor, physics, Notre Dame @ WGBH Forum Network

Best comment @ Amazon:
Cotton Candy--Lots of Air, Some Sugar, No Bibliography, June 3, 2002
By Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States)
"I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it is coherent, thoughtful, and tells a story about the emerging science of networks that anyone, who can read, can understand. This is a non-trivial accomplishment, so 4 stars.
However, the book is also--being brilliantly designed to be understood by the lowest common denominator, an undergraduate--somewhat shallow and empty.... especially when compared with Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science", 1197 pages not counting the index, which is at the other extreme.
Although there are good notes, there is no bibliography, and the author fails to use network methodology to illustrate and document the emerging literature on networks--called citation analysis, this would have been a superb appendix to the book that would have taken it up a notch in utility."

From Publishers Weekly
"Information, disease, knowledge and just about everything else is disseminated through a complex series of networks made up of interconnected hubs, argues University of Notre Dame physics professor Barabasi. These networks are replicated in every facet of human life: "There is a path between any two neurons in our brain, between any two companies in the world, between any two chemicals in our body. Nothing is excluded from this highly interconnected web of life." In accessible prose, Barabasi guides readers through the mathematical foundation of these networks. He shows how they operate on the Power Law, the notion that "a few large events carry most of the action." The Web, for example, is "dominated by a few very highly connected nodes, or hubs... such as Yahoo! or Amazon.com." Barabasi notes that "the fittest node will inevitably grow to become the biggest hub."

see also:

Business : Your Network - What type is it?
by Ellis Pratt (Technical Authors) on 16-Jul-05 10:39pm

CRITIQUE MY BLOG!

NB. Beware: This is a zone you must enter ONLY if you want a critiq / deconstruction of your mindmap as a citizen of the blogosphere.

STOP HERE! SEND ME THE LINK TO YOUR BLOG VIA THE "SUBMIT YOUR BLOG" BUTTON ON THE SIDEBAR AND I WILL PERSONALLY READ AND REVIEW YOUR BLOG WITH YOUR LINK BEING PASTED ON THE FRONT PAGE! GREAT WAY TO INCREASE TRAFFIC AND EXPOSURE TO YOUR BLOG. ALL I ASK IS THAT YOU PLACE MY BLOG LINK IN YOUR SIDEBAR.

Better: Comments
Up to date: Regularly
Bad: Post dated: Posted by blogger at 6/30/2007 [although the calendar shows it is posted around 20th June]
Competitive intelligence: folows good practice [I give a three star to this Blog] -- see other critiq blogs:

Zaib Kaleem's Blog Review Series

XOM Website Reviews

Between Friends....

The Blogger Review

A Blog for Bloggers - Blog Directories Reviews

SOB HALL OF FAME

Bestest Blog of All-Time

Famous Blogs - Blog Of The Day Awards - Top Blog Awards - 2007 Weblog Awards

Share The Love Blog Awards

Seventh Annual Weblog Awards

See also my previous blog posts:

Reviewing a blog - benchmarks?

Visualizing Comments on Blogs

Visualizing Traffic At My Blog Via Mapping The Pathways

Blog As A Teaching Tool

A Visible Pathfinder for Increasing Blog Traffic in 2007

Blog: Vanity Presses or Archives of Human Thought

An Army of Davids - It is All About Blogs and Infostructure

Top 7 Alternatives to Wikipedia

[NB. This is not a review or view from my Desktop. This is courtesy: Jimmy Atkinson]

Published on Thursday 7th of June, 2007

Touting itself as "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit", it's no wonder that Wikipedia has garnered so much bad press lately. After all, it is hard to imagine that millions of anonymous users could accurately maintain a factual and unbiased living encyclopedia. Wikipedia is a non-profit site that is policed by hundreds of volunteers, yet very few of these volunteers have the experience and knowledge of a professional writer/editor. A cultural bias has seemed to have washed over many entries on the site, as general consensus replaces cold, hard facts. There is also a matter of vandalism, which the site is susceptible to. These problems, coupled with the almost obsessive behavior of many of the volunteers (try placing an external link on the site without having it removed), have led people to other sources for information. If you are looking for a different kind of online encyclopedia, try the seven alternatives to Wikipedia listed below. Read the full article
1. Scholarpedia
2. Citizendium
3. Encyclopedia Britannica Online
4. MSN Encarta
5. Infoplease
6. Conservapedia
7. Uncyclopedia

Bottomline:
What do others say about an alternative to Wiki
Then the question remains:

Can we compare oranges and apples?

Can we compare a fee-based product (safe and authoritative) with a freebie (free, almost close to being unauthoritative)

Is there an equation in an (open source) document with what comes in a edited and propreitary protected information service?

See also related posts from my Blog:

Wikipedia and Academia Hit News Headlines Again

Is this yet another Wiki in Library and Information Science

Researchers Turn Web Blather to Books

Google Books: Whats Not to Like?

AHA Blog
April 30, 2007
Google Books: Whats Not to Like?
By Robert Townsend
"The Google Books project promises to open up a vast amount of older literature, but a closer look at the material on the site raises real worries about how well it can fulfill that promise and what its real objectives might be.... "

contents include:

Poor Scan Quality ...
Faulty Metadata ...
Truncated Public Domain ...

+ comments by academics, bloggers, historians, etc.
continue reading

PS. This is not from my desktop. Courtesy: Middle East Librarians Assn List: melanet-l@cornell.edu

Unputdownable

P.S This is not a review from my desktop. This review is courtesy: Filipina Librarian in the Land Down Under. As far as I see, this is about a new book and how a librarian is reading between the shelf.

Out Front with Stephen Abram: A Guide for Information Leaders, by Judith A. Siess and Jonathan Lorig, ALA Editions.

"This is what I can say of Stephen Abram's book Out Front with Stephen Abram: A Guide for Information Leaders (Chicago : ALA, 2007). I have just finished cataloging the book and intended to read it later but when I started reading the first article I just couldn't stop. (Frankly, for the first time I actually hoped I would miss my train on my way home home so I can read more but I arrived a couple of minutes early at the train station. However, I made use of the train ride and was able to finish the book in time for me to get off the train.)" continue reading the comments

Previous posts from my blog:

Leadership Basics for Librarians and Information Professionals

SLA Leadership Summit 2007