Today’s book review is something of an anomaly. This is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a ‘book’ I haven’t read all of and the first one I never intend to finish. I’m sure that a lot of people might not even consider it as a ‘book’ or something that fits alongside book reviews in general. But over the years, I have to say, I’ve spent an awfully large amount of time reading Wikipedia.
I wanted to write about it, not only because I have found it to be useful, valuable and fascinating at many times throughout my life, but because I love what it stands for. This was written by the people, for the people and is an enormous repository of information that’s available for free and which hasn’t (yet) been polluted with endless adverts, unlike many other longstanding websites.
As a teenager, I was practically addicted to Wikipedia. Where else could I learn so much about popular culture, religion, history, literature, science, mysteries and a thousand other things? I know that Wikipedia has a reputation for having unreliable information because it can be edited by anybody and while this may be a fair point, there are so many vigorous editors on Wikipedia and the rules of the site do require sources to be cited. I know mistakes slip through the cracks, but this is true of every repository of knowledge and when Wikipedia has been tested against more traditional encyclopaedias, it’s been found that Wikipedia is not significantly less accurate.
One of the most enjoyable ways to spend some free time is to read up on something you’re passionate about on Wikipedia, click on some links to other pages and then go on a journey. It’s easy to forget how much information Wikipedia gives us access to, so I do recommend that you make time to have a look around the Wiki realms. I’m confident that you’ll learn something new and fascinating. In fact, I recommend starting on the page about Wikipedia itself – its fascinating.
I hope we never lose Wikipedia.
Rating: 10/10
