La révolution Wikipédia
Encyclopedia
La révolution Wikipédia (The Wikipedia Revolution), published in France
in 2007, is a multi-authored study of Wikipedia
focusing on the online encyclopedia's reliability and its likely influence on printed reference books. Special attention is given to the French Wikipedia
. The preface is contributed by Pierre Assouline
, known as a critic of Wikipedia.
La révolution Wikipédia began as a team project by five postgraduate journalism students under Pierre Assouline's supervision at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
. The authors, who get equal credit on the title page, are Pierre Gourdain, Florence O'Kelly, Béatrice Roman-Amat, Delphine Soulas and Tassilo von Droste zu Hülshoff. The main text explores Wikipedia in a balanced way, with a detailed analysis of the comparison of Wikipedia and the Encyclopaedia Britannica published by Nature
in December 2005: this comparison relates to a main theme of the book, as signalled by its subtitle Les encyclopédies vont-elles mourir? ("Are encyclopedias about to die?"). It includes interviews on this issue with editors of French encyclopedias and dictionaries.
La révolution Wikipédia studies the internal structures of Wikipedia and reports on the motivations of some active French Wikipedians, with an interview of Esprit Fugace. A review on Internet & Opinion(s) noted an apparent negative emphasis in this section and points out that Wikipedia has correction mechanisms, using the Essjay case (already discussed in the book) as an example: "So Essjay is banned and has had to close his Wikipedia page. Who says that anarchy reigns unchallenged on the Web?"
There is an unresolved conflict between the sceptical but neutral approach of the main authors and the fiercely anti-Wikipedia stance of Pierre Assouline, whose long preface is headed Et ça passe pour une source ... ("And people call it a source!") With the exception of the relatively suspicious approach of the Bulletin des bibliothèques de France (the house journal of French librarians), media reviews of La révolution Wikipédia were in general more favourable to Wikipedia than the book itself is. "Wikipedia is disturbing," said Shvoong, "it's becoming livelier and more visible every day ... and it's overturning the traditional order by allowing users to share in the project."
One feature of the research that went into La révolution Wikipédia was the insertion of several deliberate errors into the French Wikipedia, with the aim of observing how long it would take for them to be corrected. According to Assouline, his instructions to the students had been for "a group study, lasting several months. Take [Wikipedia] apart and see how it works." This experiment was reported in the French daily newspaper Libération
when the original student project was submitted. Information about edits that Wikipedians regarded as vandalism led to investigation by French Wikipedia administrators and to the blocking of the IP address from which they were made. The address was that of the Institut d'Études Politiques network; in response to the blocking Agnès Chauveau, director of the Institute's School of Journalism, claimed that its students "did not sabotage the encyclopedia" and that the Institute was being "punished".
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 2007, is a multi-authored study of Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
focusing on the online encyclopedia's reliability and its likely influence on printed reference books. Special attention is given to the French Wikipedia
French Wikipedia
The French Wikipedia is the French language edition of Wikipedia, spelt Wikipédia. This edition was started in March 2001, and has about articles as of , making it the third-largest Wikipedia overall, after the English-language and German-language editions...
. The preface is contributed by Pierre Assouline
Pierre Assouline
Pierre Assouline is a writer and journalist. He was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He has published several novels and biographies, and also contributes articles for the print media and broadcasts for radio....
, known as a critic of Wikipedia.
La révolution Wikipédia began as a team project by five postgraduate journalism students under Pierre Assouline's supervision at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
. The authors, who get equal credit on the title page, are Pierre Gourdain, Florence O'Kelly, Béatrice Roman-Amat, Delphine Soulas and Tassilo von Droste zu Hülshoff. The main text explores Wikipedia in a balanced way, with a detailed analysis of the comparison of Wikipedia and the Encyclopaedia Britannica published by Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
in December 2005: this comparison relates to a main theme of the book, as signalled by its subtitle Les encyclopédies vont-elles mourir? ("Are encyclopedias about to die?"). It includes interviews on this issue with editors of French encyclopedias and dictionaries.
La révolution Wikipédia studies the internal structures of Wikipedia and reports on the motivations of some active French Wikipedians, with an interview of Esprit Fugace. A review on Internet & Opinion(s) noted an apparent negative emphasis in this section and points out that Wikipedia has correction mechanisms, using the Essjay case (already discussed in the book) as an example: "So Essjay is banned and has had to close his Wikipedia page. Who says that anarchy reigns unchallenged on the Web?"
There is an unresolved conflict between the sceptical but neutral approach of the main authors and the fiercely anti-Wikipedia stance of Pierre Assouline, whose long preface is headed Et ça passe pour une source ... ("And people call it a source!") With the exception of the relatively suspicious approach of the Bulletin des bibliothèques de France (the house journal of French librarians), media reviews of La révolution Wikipédia were in general more favourable to Wikipedia than the book itself is. "Wikipedia is disturbing," said Shvoong, "it's becoming livelier and more visible every day ... and it's overturning the traditional order by allowing users to share in the project."
One feature of the research that went into La révolution Wikipédia was the insertion of several deliberate errors into the French Wikipedia, with the aim of observing how long it would take for them to be corrected. According to Assouline, his instructions to the students had been for "a group study, lasting several months. Take [Wikipedia] apart and see how it works." This experiment was reported in the French daily newspaper Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
when the original student project was submitted. Information about edits that Wikipedians regarded as vandalism led to investigation by French Wikipedia administrators and to the blocking of the IP address from which they were made. The address was that of the Institut d'Études Politiques network; in response to the blocking Agnès Chauveau, director of the Institute's School of Journalism, claimed that its students "did not sabotage the encyclopedia" and that the Institute was being "punished".
Publication details
- Pierre Gourdain, Florence O'Kelly, Béatrice Roman-Amat, Delphine Soulas, Tassilo von Droste zu Hülshoff, La révolution Wikipédia. Preface by Pierre Assouline. Paris: Les Mille et Une Nuits, 2007. ISBN 9782755500516