Tech Shout!

Today, Citizendium, an online encyclopedia that was started by Wikipedia founder, Larry Sanger has been opened for public use. This project which was first launched in November as a pilot, aims to improve on the Wikipedia model by requiring contributors to use their real names.

In fact, since its pilot launch in November, around 180 expert editors and 800 authors have joined Citizendium to work on thousands of articles.

According to Larry Sanger, editor in chief of Citizendium and a co-founder of Wikipedia, “The modest success of out pilot project shows that there is hop that we can correct exactly the sort of abuses that people demonize Web 2.0 for. You don’t have to choose between content and accountability. We have shown that we can create open and credible content. We can in fact, be open to all sorts of participants but still hold people to higher standards of content and behavior as a community.”

Hopefully, with the launch of Citizendium, there will be no more incidents of inconsistency or vandalism that were frequenting the pages of Wikipedia in the recent past.

In fact, critics have questioned Wikipedia’s reliability and accuracy in the past. The site has also been criticized for its susceptibility to vandalism, uneven quality, systematic bias and inconsistencies, and for favoring consensus over credentials in its editorial process.

It is these flaws that Sanger wished to change with the launch of Citizendium. Like Wikipedia, Citizendium will be non-profit, devoid of advertisements and free to read and edit by all. However, those editing or posting in Citizendium are expected to provide their real names. Experts in different fields will also be asked to check articles for accuracy. These two points will distinguish Citizendium from Wikipedia.

The rules for publication on Citizendium will also be more stringent that those in Wikipedia.