Sunday, April 13, 2008

Accuracy of Wiki.

Today's task revolves around choosing two Wiki articles about topics that we have some prior knowledge of. We are to ask the following questions of each article;
* Is this an accurate article?
* Does it cover all the basic facts that you'd need to understand this topic?
* Does this article follow the wikipedia guidelines for useful articles?
* Is this article fair and balanced, or is it biased towards a particular side or argument?

Finally - What changes would you make to this article to improve it and make it useful for the wider wikipedia community?

The first article chosen is Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstein:_Enemy_Territory (yes, it's a game. Yes, it's nerdy). The accuracy of the article is adequate, in that I couldn't identify any specific elements within the article that are incorrect. I'm not too sure about what 'basic facts' would refer to, but it does appear to have enough to give an unexperienced observer enough to know what the game was about. From what I can tell, the guidelines aren't too strayed from. The only bias in an article about a computer game could be about whether the author approves or disproves of it. My interpretation is that it's reasonably balanced. It does however, lack an in-depth observation of the intricacies of the game. One such is Trick Jumping; the utilisation of the jumping on or over areas that are generally not able or supposed to be accessed. This is achieved by either first jumping on top of a team mate, or utilising the landscape in strategic ways. Trick jumping has been considered a major, though controversial, aspect of Enemy Territory.

The second article is one on the cocktail Black Russian; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_russian. The accuracy of this article is questionable. Although preliminary research (checking google) shows a number of sites that concur with the 1949 invention by Gustave Tops, The 1939 movie Ninontchka shows a scene in which it appears Black Russians are being consumed. I can't confirm this either way, so I will assume it is accurate in its statement and that in the movie is in fact not a Black Russian. The basic facts are not covered. The article states 'vodka' and 'coffee liqueur' are the main ingredients. While technically true, a Black Russian is traditionally created through the mixing of Russian vodka and Kahlua. The use of inferior products severely and detrimentally affects the taste and enjoyability of the drink - this should be noted in the article. Article is balanced. One useful addition would be suggested quantities of each vodka and Kahlua. For example; one variation includes 40ml vodka, 20ml Kahlua with a maraschino cherry as a garnish.

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