Over on H-Africa there is yet another discussion of the Wikipedia going on.

Notably, however, this one isn't a grump-fest about the (well established) failings of the Wikipedia. Rather, it is an unusually constructive discussion about how Africanists can help improve the Africa-related material available and thus utilize the popularity of the Wikipedia to help get accurate African info into the hands of students and lay-readers.

More so, there is also an interesting discussion of how faculty can assign students the task of researching and writing/rewriting entries, as well. Timothy Burke has previously made some very smart suggestions here on Cliopatria about how to use the Wikipedia as a teaching tool. Having students actually contribute (under a suitable degree of supervision, of course) strikes me as a very good idea.

David Silbey - 12/14/2005

Nature did an interesting experiment comparing Wikipedia to the Encyclopedia Britannica.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html

Rob MacDougall - 12/14/2005

...has recently begun on H-SHGAPE (Society of Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era).

Jonathan Dresner - 12/13/2005

On H-Asia there's been a similar debate going on: the most intriguing suggestions I've seen so far had to do with having students construct wikis of their own, in groups. That would, I think, though it wasn't mentioned in the discussion, provide a good foundation for students to understand the weaknesses of wiki as well as the potential value of it.