[Taxacom] The strain between Wikipedia and Science

[Roderic Page]

I dislike surveys a LOT, and routinely ignore them as being wildly  
inefficient, however I did take the time to do this one. As with most  
surveys, it's a bit clunky, and lacks flexibility (although you can  
write comments at the end).

However, the kinds of comments expressed on this list regarding the  
value of Wikipedia are exactly the kinds of things the creators of the  
survey are trying to investigate. Do scientists engage with Wikipedia?  
Do they find the experience useful or frustrating? Is engaging with  
non-experts stimulating or enraging? Do scientists feel it is worth  
their time to contribute to Wikipedia?

The people behind the survey are serious, do clever work (see for  
example http://nitens.org/taraborelli/home ), and are asking an  
important question:

"The aim of this survey is to understand why scientists, academics and  
otherexperts do (or do not) contribute to an open collaborative  
project such as Wikipedia"

I'd encourage anyone interested in Wikipedia (or other wiki-style  
projects) to take the survey.

Regards

Rod

---------------------------------------------------------
Roderic Page
Professor of Taxonomy
Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine
College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences
Graham Kerr Building
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Email: r.page at bio.gla.ac.uk
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