ITM301 Principles of Info. Syst. In Bus. And Org.

Module 4 – SLP

Computer technology and the networked organization

Wikipedia:
Summery description of its Structure and Purpose. Wikipedia is an internet encyclopedia founded in January of 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger as part of Nupedia an older internet encyclopedia. It is a multilingual, web-based, free-content encyclopedia based on an openly editable model and free of charge. Anyone can edit it for any purpose as long as they follow certain rules. Wikipedia is owned by an American organization, Wikimedia Foundation located in San Francisco and its name is a combination of the two words: wiki, a Hawaiian word for quick and encyclopedia. It is set up as such that anyone can make changes to the pages or even make new ones. It was estimated as of 2007 that Wikipedia had about 9.25 million pages in 253 languages and more than 1.74 billion words across all Wikipedias. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous internet volunteers who write without pay. Wikipedia is a live collaboration differing from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedias, Wikipedia is continually created and updated with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years. Its purpose is to act as an encyclopedia, a comprehensive written compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge. Its overall “look and feel” and apparent target audience In software design, look and feel is a term used in respect of a graphical user interface and comprises aspects of its design, including elements such as colors, shapes, layout, and typefaces (the look), as well as the behavior of dynamic elements such as buttons, boxes, and menu (the feel). Wikipedia uses a simple yet powerful page layout to allow editors to concentrate on adding material rather than page design. It consists of automatic sections and subsections, automatic references and cross-references, image and table inclusion and listed text. The page layout consists of tabs along the top of the window. These are: article, discussion, edit, view history and star. Anyone can contribute to Wikipedia by clicking on the Edit this page tab in an article. Articles are all linked or cross-referenced. The highlighted text means there is a link to some relevant article or Wikipedia page with further in-depth information elsewhere. Holding the mouse over the highlighted area can usually tell you where the link can be found. The writing is black against a white background and the highlighted words are in blue. There is a box listing the contents of the article at the left of the page. The page is divided into sections with different topics. It features historic facts about the date on a daily basis on the left and events that occurred on certain dates on the right side of the page. It also features historic features of the day with facts about the pictures. Wikipedia caters to a diverse population all over the world and it is in about 273 different languages. At the bottom of the page, is a list of all the languages that it is available in. Its audience seems to consist of a larger percentage of males than females. It attracts an audience that wants to acquire knowledge and those who want to share knowledge. It has a significant amount of nonacademic content and does not glorify academics or those with credentials above others.
What you find useful about this site What I found useful about the site is the diversity in topics. The news around the world was the most current. There was a little every most areas of the world. I was able to highlight certain facts that I wanted clarity on and was taken to another area with more information on the topic. I was brought up to date on historic facts. The information on the Wikipedia page is mostly nonacademic but interesting enough to catch the eyes of the reader. The site is very informative and not limited to a single topic.
Links there that you either did or intend to follow I was able to follow the links of the highlighted words and phrases that I found interesting. I plan on following the links of the different subjects listed and also of the other featured articles on the site.
Any other thing about the site that you find interesting
I think it is very interesting that the setup allows for people to be able to edit other people’s articles. A lot of topics can be researched on the site and are linked to other sites for more explanation. The fact that the writers are all volunteers and not academicians makes the site more appealing to the general population.
Bottom-Line evaluation of its value to you As a student currently, Wikipedia website holds a specific value for me. It will be useful in referencing certain articles especially if I am able to verify the sources and the information itself. One of the problems Wikipedia faces is, that it is not thought of widely among the academic community as a reliable site. I intend to visit the site more often in the future for its world news content and daily historic facts.
How this is related to the learning objectives of this module
In this module we also discussed network organization and how independent people from different works of life and in this case different continents come together to work as a link for a common purpose. Wikipedia is a perfect example of this type of idea. People from all over the world writing in different languages, bringing different ideas and of interest, is the fact that they can edit without bias.

References:
Wikipedia.org – retrieved May 29, 2011 at: http://www.wikipedia.org/ Welcome to Wikipedia = Retrieved May 30 at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page