The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um, "a citizens' compendium of everything") is an experimental wiki-based encyclopedia project spearheaded by Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, former editor-in-chief
The Citizendium (sit-ih-ZEN-dee-um, "a citizens' compendium of everything") is an experimental wiki-based encyclopedia project spearheaded by Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, former editor-in-chief of Nupedia, and consultant to other web-encyclopedia projects such as the Encyclopedia of Earth. The project aims to improve on the Wikipedia model by requiring all contributors to do so with their real names, by strictly moderating the project for unprofessional behaviors, and by providing what it calls "gentle expert oversight" of everyday contributors. It was first envisioned as a complete "fork" of the English Wikipedia, but the project abandoned that idea prior its public launch to emphasize its own original articles, although quality Wikipedia articles can still be imported as starting points for improved articles. A main feature of the project is its "approved articles", which have each undergone a form of peer-review by credentialed topic-experts and are closed to real-time editing. The project will be carried out under the auspices of the Citizendium Foundation, although it is still phased under the Tides Center as an incubator project. Citizendium was introduced as a beta project in March 25, 2007, from which it has yet to emerge.
Citizendium is an alternative to Wikipedia made by Wikipedia founder Larry Sanger after he grew upset with the many problems with Wikipedia including anonymous editing and a lack of respect for experts. The project went online in March 25, 2007 and has been growing since.
Origin of Citizendium
Larry Sanger announced the concept for Citizendium on September 15, 2006 at Berlin's Wizards of OS 4 conference. The project moved on to a pilot phase in October, and formally launched on March 25, 2007.
Like Wikipedia, Citizendium is a project to prepare an encyclopedia through the collaborative writing approach known as wiki. The first recognized wiki was created by Ward Cunningham, who began development of WikiWikiWeb in 1994.
Citizendium was founded on the following organizational principles that, for the most part, distinguish it from Wikipedia.
Citizendium is similar to Wikipedia in that it is an open wiki: the public is invited to participate and edit most pages.
Unlike Wikipedia, Citizendium emphasizes the involvement of experts. While articles may be developed and revised by all Citizendium participants, the project places certain decisions in the hands of subject experts. (See Article Approval, below.)
Sanger promotes the shift to expertise, saying: "people who know a great deal about a subject, who are recognized by various societal mechanisms for that knowledge, can add a great of value to Web 2.0 projects, if they are given special roles that recognize their expertise." Using a metaphor from Eric S. Raymond's story about The Cathedral and the Bazaar, Sanger suggests that we "Think of editors as the village elders wandering the bazaar and occasionally dispensing advice and reining in the wayward. Their presence is merely a moderating, civilizing influence. They don't stop the bazaar from being a bazaar."
Citizendium requires that its finished articles be approved by experts familiar with the subject matter. Prior to approval, articles may be readily developed by any Citizendium participant. Upon approval, articles become the default article served to readers. Approved articles are not directly edited; instead, contributors are able to improve a draft version of the article.
Citizendium requires, with limited exceptions, that authors and other participants use their real names. Sanger has stated that real names, in contrast to the pseudonyms common on Wikipedia, would add to the credibility and accuracy of Citizendium articles. Though the requirement for real names limits the level of participation (see Criticisms section), Citizendium officials believe that people act in a more responsible manner when their name is on the line. Accordingly, this policy seeks to foster a culture of accountability and professionalism.
Citizendium has adopted a Neutrality Policy that is based on an early version of Wikipedia's neutrality policy (circa December 2001), which had been drafted by Sanger.
The Citizendium neutrality policy sets out the following outline for neutrality in encyclopedias:
- Reduction of Bias: It is accepted that there are many different viewpoints of topics all around the world by different people, and as such there is no "Correct" viewpoint but "accurate" viewpoints. In this sense it's the responsibility to provide comprehension and fairness to all topics and viewpoints regardless of personal belief or feelings. Unfortunately it is impossible to reduce the amount of bias to zero, but the policy does indicate that recognition of bias is beneficial to the project.
- Facts vs Opinion: The project has a responsibility to produce articles based on established and a