Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 4549918, member: 19463&quot;]There are two reasons for publishing information using any medium or platform.&nbsp; One is to spread that information as you see it.&nbsp; The other is to sell books.&nbsp; When information is given freely by volunteers we have to watch for accidental errors or just plain lies.&nbsp; When we pay good money for that same information, strangely enough, we still have to watch for accidental errors and lies either accidental or deliberate to promote some agenda.&nbsp; In the link provided above</p><p><br /></p><p>we see Wikipedia is quite aware of being so freely editable but they above all understand that there is no one who knows everything and could edit every page.&nbsp; We do the best we can with the resources of volunteers.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The above is the big point about all online sources.&nbsp; When I started my web pages in 1997 I stated near the bottom of the index page:</p><p><span style="color: #0080ff">This page is very much a &#039;fast food&#039; or &#039;pop culture&#039; approach to the subject of ancient numismatics. I am an amateur collector and offer no guarantee of completeness or accuracy on any material on this site. I recommend that you research your questions rather than accepting blindly anything posted here. I also recommend you apply this same degree of care in using any other source material online or in hard copy. This site was intended to expose new collectors to an enjoyable hobby. No claim is made to serious scholarship. Serious numismatists are also welcomed here while they await publication of more proper and scholarly coverage of this material.</span></p><p><span style="color: #000000">I&#039;m still waiting. This is exactly how I feel about Wikipedia.&nbsp; Perhaps in a perfect world the greatest scholars would publish for world enlightenment but in the current world many are more driven by the need for receiving financial grants and selling books.&nbsp; Those who find issues with Wikipedia are free to join in the project and edit what is there.&nbsp; Those who just complain are doing no good for the cause of information exchange.&nbsp; </span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000">On more than one occasion in the last few years I have considered taking down all my web pages because of the errors I know it contains and the fact that I no longer have the energy to update it in proper fashion.&nbsp; Is that &#039;throwing out the baby with the bath water&#039; or is it an honest realization that the bath water can get muddy enough that there is no benefit to washing with it?&nbsp; I started my pages with the goal of spreading information without fees on my one particular subject.&nbsp; Wikipedia tries to do it all.&nbsp; That would require cooperation in a positive sense from many people whose interest in free public education is stronger than their desires for financial gain.&nbsp; Perhaps that is an impossible dream.&nbsp; </span></p><p><span style="color: #000000"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #000000">Traditional wisdom tends to be the basis for many subjects online and in books.&nbsp; This can spread both information and misinformation.&nbsp; That is also the problem with &#039;peer reviewed&#039; information.&nbsp; If anyone does serious and groundbreaking research that shows traditional views on the matter are wrong, the first step is to get it past the &#039;peers&#039; who obviously do not know as much about the subject and who have, at best, read and accepted the traditional views.&nbsp; This is a slow matter even when the results are a matter of life and death.&nbsp; It might be glacial when we are dealing with minute details of subjects found to be not worth the effort by the &#039;peers&#039;.&nbsp; That is why we have things like Wikipedia and Open Source software where ideas can compete and, hopefully, truth can rise to the top. </span>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in