[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia not educational

Sun Apr 20 04:39:38 UTC 2003

I agree.  I do that sometimes (that is, writing
definitions within articles) in math articles, but
sometimes I feel I write too much and get slightly
off-topic. Also with math, there should be links on
the  tops of math pages to some glossary of math
notation, because you can't just put a link in every
(actually, any) mathematical symbol. Although it's
probably impossible to have a *complete* set of math
notation, I think having the basics down would help.
I'm not sure if this would work, though, so please
tell me if it is feasible for me to work on.

> My three cents worth (inflation, you know):
> 
> Any article in Wikipedia should present information
> in such
> a way that a person of average intelligence who's
> motivated
> to learn can interpret it and use it.  In the
> process, some
> education is absolutely necessary.  A number of
> articles
> start with arcane, technical language that even a
> polymath
> genius would have trouble deciphering if that isn't
> one of
> his/her knowledge areas.  Presenting knowledge is a
> process
> of education.  I assume that Rotem Dan meant that
> entries
> should not be pedantic in nature, with which I
> agree, but
> they must be educational by way of being accessible.
>  For
> instance, if an article states something like "The
> geological history of sedimentary rock is
> stratigraphic in
> nature," (not a real example in W.), then it should
> be
> rephrased to say something like "The geologic
> history of
> sedimentary rock is stratigraphic in nature; that
> is, the
> history is shown by the succession of strata, or
> layers."
> Then stratigraphic may be re-used without
> explanation,
> because it's been adequately explained.  Simply
> putting in a
> link for stratigraphy is not sufficient (though it
> should be
> there) and invites the user to get lost in a maze of
> multiple open windows and computer stress.
> 
> --
> John Knouse
> jaknouse at frognet.net

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