Why Are There So Many Questions Below That Are Fully Answered On Wikipedia?

[darvell]

Could it be important to block this great system by such issues which have instant options quickly on the net? Is it actually far more straightforward to obtain solutions from askville in the location of wikipedia - or is it only a easy method to gather a lot more of those ever-so-valuable coins?

[Bedyw]

By using askville, you could get a more specific, relevant, and direct answer, saving you the time to do the initial research. Why? Because the other Askvillies can:extract the relevant information from a wiki article consolidate relevant information from multiple wiki articles. append other relevant information, e.g., related books, personal experience, etc. For example, take a look at this question about "Is Wales a country?"     http://askville.amazon.com/askville/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=156285 Many answers are given by extracting the specific information from the wiki. Some answers are given by combining information from multiple wiki articles, giving the asker the most relevant information.

[Witter]

The novelty factor Askville is still new and people are excited about using it. This will probably settle down a bit once the novelty wears off(though there will always be newbies). After using Askville a bit, a user will figure out for which questions Askville is most useful, and for which a web search works best. LeonardOfVince 86 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Milton]

I noticed this, too, and I?m glad you asked, because it gives me a chance to test my theory through the ever-so-valuable coin grading scale! Issue 1: The ongoing Wikipedia v. Encyclopaedia Britannica v. all other reference sources debate.  Because wikipedia?s reliability is still being tested, some people might be hesitant to believe everything written on the site.  Although Nature found Wikipedia to be swiftly catching up to E.B. in validity of science articles(http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/full/438900a.html), many people are still hesitant to fall in with the masses.  Read or see Ibsen?s Enemy of the People as one example of why we might not trust everything the mob tells us.  Of course, for that matter, is Askville yet another implementation of mob strategy, where everyman is able to assert his authority in a neutral arena?  And what about The Wisdom of Crowds, both as a book and a theory? Issue 2: Testing the system.  Askville is still in beta, so it definitely makes sense to try it out with simple questions.  We?ll get to the hard stuff when we?ve all had some experience with the system and have figured out this whole coin/widget/anonystatus situation. 

[Porfirio]

Askville is still new and people are excited about using it. This will probably settle down a bit once the novelty wears off(though there will always be newbies). After using Askville a bit, a user will figure out for which questions Askville is most useful, and for which a web search works best.

[Rory]

Answer Synthesis If you're a slow reader, or you don't want to risk getting trapped in Wikipedia Hell(where you keep following links until you end up at sneezing fetish when you were originally looking for information on Iraq), you can let someone else do the research for you and summarize. Wikipedia is often my first source when answering, but I usually try to synthesize the information, find additional sources, and recombine the contents from Wikipedia into a more targeted answer. I don't just post excerpts of Wikipedia entries, as I've seen some people do. As an example, a question about painkillers several weeks ago required me to read at least 10 Wikipedia entries on various chemical compounds and brand names before I could summarize it all in a nice little table for the answer. Honestly, some answers derived from Wikipedia sources should probably be integrated back into Wikipedia, because they provide synthesis or summary information that might fit onto some topic page relevant to the question. Sources: my opinion   UltraNurd's Recommendations Is a million articles proof of authentic information?: An article from: Intermedia Amazon List Price: $10.00 Shouldn't that be "Are a million articles proof"? UltraNurd 86 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Kelley]

If you're a slow reader, or you don't want to risk getting trapped in Wikipedia Hell(where you keep following links until you end up at sneezing fetish when you were originally looking for information on Iraq), you can let someone else do the research for you and summarize. Wikipedia is often my first source when answering, but I usually try to synthesize the information, find additional sources, and recombine the contents from Wikipedia into a more targeted answer. I don't just post excerpts of Wikipedia entries, as I've seen some people do. As an example, a question about painkillers several weeks ago required me to read at least 10 Wikipedia entries on various chemical compounds and brand names before I could summarize it all in a nice little table for the answer. Honestly, some answers derived from Wikipedia sources should probably be integrated back into Wikipedia, because they provide synthesis or summary information that might fit onto some topic page relevant to the question.

[Birkhead]

You can get a more specific answer, possibly with additional content By using askville, you could get a more specific, relevant, and direct answer, saving you the time to do the initial research. Why? Because the other Askvillies can:extract the relevant information from a wiki article consolidate relevant information from multiple wiki articles. append other relevant information, e.g., related books, personal experience, etc. For example, take a look at this question about "Is Wales a country?"     http://askville.amazon.com/askville/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=156285 Many answers are given by extracting the specific information from the wiki. Some answers are given by combining information from multiple wiki articles, giving the asker the most relevant information. Sources: My experience and observation orion_orange 86 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.

[Curry]

My guess is it's twofold: wikipedia has only established a relative validity, and people are trying to test this system. I noticed this, too, and I?m glad you asked, because it gives me a chance to test my theory through the ever-so-valuable coin grading scale! Issue 1: The ongoing Wikipedia v. Encyclopaedia Britannica v. all other reference sources debate.  Because wikipedia?s reliability is still being tested, some people might be hesitant to believe everything written on the site.  Although Nature found Wikipedia to be swiftly catching up to E.B. in validity of science articles(http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/full/438900a.html), many people are still hesitant to fall in with the masses.  Read or see Ibsen?s Enemy of the People as one example of why we might not trust everything the mob tells us.  Of course, for that matter, is Askville yet another implementation of mob strategy, where everyman is able to assert his authority in a neutral arena?  And what about The Wisdom of Crowds, both as a book and a theory? Issue 2: Testing the system.  Askville is still in beta, so it definitely makes sense to try it out with simple questions.  We?ll get to the hard stuff when we?ve all had some experience with the system and have figured out this whole coin/widget/anonystatus situation.  Sources: [email protected]   21stcenturysei's Recommendations An Enemy of the People(Dover Thrift Editions) Amazon List Price: $2.00 Used from: $0.31 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5(based on 13 reviews) The Wisdom of Crowds Amazon List Price: $14.00 Used from: $7.44 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5(based on 116 reviews) Just trying out some widgets! 21stcenturysei 86 months ago Please sign in to give a compliment. Please verify your account to give a compliment. Please sign in to send a message. Please verify your account to send a message.