To Wiki or Not to Wiki

I am happy to share this article that I wrote for the Display Case column in the September/October 2011 edition of the American Association of Museum’s Museum member magazine.  You can find the hard copy on p.23 as well as in their digital edition. It is reprinted here with permission.

A special thank you to Elizabeth Merritt for first offering me the chance to post on the AAM Center for the Future of Museums blog, which led to this incredible opportunity, and to Susannah O’Donnell for her editing savvy. I’m incredibly appreciative to Modupe Labode and Jennifer Geigel Mikulay for their patient and thorough reviews which helped me make the article the best that it could be.

With 400 million unique visitors a month, Wikipedia is currently the fifth most visited website in the world. The online encyclopedia spans 281 languages, with more than 3.5 million articles in the English Wikipedia alone. It’s not just a way to find information, but to share it with a global audience.

Yet, in spite of this astounding reach, most museums keep Wikipedia at arm’s length. You might occasionally use it as a starting point to find basic information, but if your museum is like most, there are probably numerous concerns about contributing to a Wikipedia entry. Is it reliable and credible enough? Is institutional integrity at risk in an environment in which control of information is shared? What museum professional has the time to learn the codes, policies and inner workings of the Wikipedia community?

These are good questions, but misunderstanding, prejudice and outdated criticisms should not overshadow the benefits of distributing cultural knowledge through Wikipedia. More institutions should look to it as a means for freely sharing institutional resources.

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