Wikipedia Co-Founder To Launch A New Type Of Encyclopedia Project

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 22, 2006

On January 15, 2001, Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales started Wikipedia.org, an open-source encyclopedia where users edit or add information on certain subjects.

The project proved to be very successful, but Larry Sanger felt that it could be improved. Sanger feels that the problem with Wikipedia is that users cannot tell when information on Wikipedia is outdated or if data is inaccurate.

This is why Sanger is planning on unleashing a new website called Citizendium.org. Sanger is calling this initiative an “encyclopedia project” which also will be open to the public, but will be headed by experts on subjects.

Citizendium will be geared more towards users of Encarta and The Encyclopedia Brittanica. Participating as a contributor will be by invite-only.

In referring to Wikipedia, “Its content is uneven in quality,” Sanger stated. “In science and technology, the articles are rather good but in social science and humanities, they are rather amateurish.”

Since there were not any real restrictions about who can contribute to articles, a lot of vandalization has been taking place.

“Widespread anonymity leads to a lot of trolling,” Sanger stated. “As a result, the whole system is off-putting to a lot of people, including the most valuable contributors: academics, scholars, scientists, etc.” Citizendium’s plan is to have contributors use their real names instead of aliases.

Many scholars and editors have been receptive to Sanger’s new idea and have willfully signed up. This includes Gareth Leng, a professor in Physiology at the University of Edinburgh.

Other professors or professionals that will be able to sign on as a contributor to certain subjects on Citizendium will be required to have 3 years of experience along with other qualifications. However, as Citizendium progresses, the requirements for contributors will be less strict.

“Those are requirements for the pilot project but the plan is to allow editors to be self selecting,” Sanger stated. “We’ll post the requirements in terms of degrees on the wiki itself and when it is out of the pilot phase, people will be able to make the judgment themselves whether they have the qualifications. They’ll have to link that they have the qualifications but otherwise it’s going to be a very much a wiki. It’s a Web 2.0 approach to getting editors involved.”

Citizendium is a volunteer project and no one is getting paid for this initiative. Citizendium is currently being funded by donations and Sanger is exploring the possibilities of attaining corporate sponsorships.