I’m not always entirely sure how to go about judging expertise on the web. It used to be the case that Wikipedia was not considered a reliable reference source. Now, that we know there are thousands of pairs of eyes who scour through every entry and provide corrections and updates and we understand the editing process, most of us actually find Wikipedia to be more reliable and up-to-date than other more conventional reference sources. This is yet another example of cloudsourcing as an invaluable resource.
Wikipedia aside, I generally defer to an expert source (a professor, academic journal, a professional who is more knowledgeable than me) in order to determine whether or not I should consider a source or person to be an “expert” on any given matter. I often look in texts for references to known works or authors or for affiliations to larger organizations.
More often than not, I am skeptical about the expertise of any resource on the web unless I am somehow able to confirm validity via the processes I just described.
I agree with your basic degree of skepticism regarding the validity of resources on the Web. Sometimes it appears the Web is a giant infomercial that will promise you anything to get you to purchase their advertised goods/services.
ReplyDeleteI also agree on your assessment regarding the validity of Wikipedia, it has certainly jumped in esteem in the past few years.