January 15, 2006 (Vol. 26, No. 2)
URL:
http://www.internet-encyclopedia.us
Rating:
Strong Points: Free online, informative articles
Weak Points: Focus not totally clear
Summary:
I’ve covered Wikipedia, the open source Internet encyclopedia here before, and here is another of its many offshoots. Dubbed the Internet Encyclopedia, this Wiki component aims to “create a universal, multilingual open content encyclopedia”. Towards that end, it links to articles within Wikipedia as well as others. One notable difference from Wikipedia is its stated point of view, which is described as “sympathetic” in contrast to Wikipedia’s “neutral.” For scientists (I would hope), this change in perspective should have no effect, but given the politicalization of science, one can’t help but worry. I looked up a few politically charged topics and was pleasantly surprised to see them reported quite evenly. In conclusion, Wikinfo may be another important source of online scientific information.
