Wikipedia's home page On this day in 1768, the first edition of "Encyclopædia Britannica" was released... at least, according to Wikipedia. We're not saying this fact is untrue -- just that it may be hard to verify the exact date. Even Britannica's site doesn't get that specific. Maybe it doesn't really matter if it was December 6,  December 1, or any other day in the last month of 1768. But the question of reliability remains. Experts and laymen have compared the accuracy of Wikipedia and Britannica, and debates rage about those comparisons. Encyclopedia fans -- whether of the old-school variety, controlled by an editorial board, or the community-edited Web 2.0 style -- are a passionate bunch. Britannica and other paper encyclopedias are limited to the knowledge and research of a small pool of writers, and the print versions might be outdated before they're even off the presses. Wikipedia, on the other hand, is susceptible to biased, practically anonymous writers, hoaxes, and pranks. So which one can you trust? Well, as our favorite high school English teacher always said, it's always best to use multiple sources. Suggested Sites... Encyclopædia Britannica - 238 years old, and still going strong. Wikipedia - over 1.5 million articles in English alone. An Empirical Examination of Wikipedia's Credibility - a study examining Wikipedia by asking research staff to assess articles for credibility. Why We Need Professional Encyclopedias - one man's review of the strengths and weaknesses of paper and online encyclopedias. Wikiality - it's on the "Internets": it must be true.

Directory categories: Encyclopedias, Reference, Encyclopedias by Subject, Ask an Expert

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