Wikipedia recently reached a milestone when a user posted the 10 millionth article - well over the 42,000 of its online competitor, Encarta.
"It's incredible to think that we've grown from one Wikipedia in English...Ten million articles is something we could never have imagined happening so fast," said Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikimedia Foundation, in a press release.
While the total is a significant number for Wikipedia, those trying to find all 10 million entries will only find that 2.5 million of them are in English. The other 7.5 million consist of entries of the over 250 different languages that Wikipedia hosts, according to the Wikipedia Web site. The majority of articles are in English, German, French, Polish and Japanese.
The 10 millionth entry was a short biography of 16th century English goldsmith and painter Nicholas Hilliard, created in Hungarian by a user called Pataki Marta.
Although the user-edited entries are popular, many professors question the accuracy and discourage students from using them as a source.
"I go to it before I go anywhere else to get general information. The professors don't really like it so I don't use it for a bibliography," said Casey White, a sophomore business major.
However, some students think that professors are slowly opening up to the site.
"Surprisingly, this semester I have found [Wikipedia] more readily accepted by professors, especially for quick general information," said Melanie Bailey, a junior English major. "Wikipedia is a great way to access information that seems hidden to me otherwise."
Michael Bozart, Ph.D., from the department of psychology, is one of those professors.
"I've started to popularize a phrase in my terrorism class: 'look that up in your Wikipedia,'" Bozart said. "The information contained in the Wikipedia isn't always right, but it's a great starting point and often sufficient to gain basic information about something I mention in class."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
