Shane Fitzgerald, a Sociology student at University College in Dublin, Ireland (not Ohio), performed an experiment in March in which he placed several fake quotes about death in the Wikipedia entry for Maurice Jarre, who had just died, including this one:
“When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head and that only I can hear.”
His intention was to see how the fake, but seemingly relevant, information would be used on the internet. He expected it to be picked up by blogs and social networks, and wanted to see how far it would go.
To his surprise, the quotes were picked up by the major media, and appeared in many publications considered far more authoritative than Wikipedia. Fitzgerald notified many of the media outlets of the experiment, and many have issued corrections, including the Guardian. To his additional surprise, however, many have not issued corrections.
For most library people, there is a healthy respect for Wikipedia. It is a powerful tool, one that can save time and effort in research, and can answer many questions for which we do not require a high level of authority. One does need to understand how far the information is to be trusted. We see quite a few people who scorn any reliance on Wikipedia, some even in the library world (who should know better). One would expect that journalists would have at least the same level of skepticism.
Today I present a modified version of a (hopefully properly remembered) Japanese saying. The original, which refers to Fugu, a delicacy made from a toxin-containing pufferfish, is, to my memory:
Those who eat fugu are stupid. But those who don’t eat fugo are also stupid.
My version of this quote is:
Those who rely on Wikipedia are foolish. But those who don’t rely on Wikipedia are also foolish.
found through ResourceShelf
