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Wikipedia Comparison Research Assignment
This assignment has caused me to think of Wikipedia in a different way. I often thought it was an unreliable source and would not use it for research projects at all but after this I will use it a bit more often. I found the Wikipedia articles were not only much more detailed but very recent and up to date.

It is understandable for articles about William Shakespeare and Vincent van Gogh to not have many updates but on The Encyclopaedia of World Biography they have not been edited in eight years. On Wikipedia they have been worked on in the past month. This shows that Wikipedia contributors keep up with articles and make sure they are worded correctly and the pages are easy to navigate. They do this to help people wishing to research and learn more about theses famous figures.

For articles about people that are still alive and still working, like J. K. Rowling, there are going to be much more updates and edits. The Encyclopaedia of World Biography article has not been updates since 2005. This means it does not feature the last two Harry Potter books, the release of four of the Harry Potter movies or her new book that came out this week. Some of this is mentioned on The Encyclopaedia Britannica website but not nearly in as much detail as on Wikipedia. I think this shows Wikipedia’s dedication to helping other people learn and wanting the public to know as much information as they possibly can about this person. The article on Wikipedia is much more interesting and contains much more information about her life and inspirations and her work. This cannot be found on any of the other websites.

All these Wikipedia articles feature all the elements of a quality article. They are structured and balanced well, are written without bias and list many reliable references. The other articles feature some of the signs of a bad quality article. They do not include many references and are missing important information. I was really impressed with how much information Wikipedia contains compared to the amount other encyclopaedias do. I will now think of Wikipedia more respectfully and trust it more than I did before because you can always count on it to feature the most current information.

Wikipedia Comparison Research Paper Part Two
The Wikipedia article on William Shakespeare contains a wide variety of information about the famous playwright’s life, career, plays, writing style, influences, reputation, religion, sexuality and death. It is a very large article with interesting and appropriate photographs that go along with the topic. The article is not only about his life but how his experiences influenced his art. It also talks of his lesser known personal life.

The Britannica Academic Edition is a very in depth and large article. It contains multiple pictures and over 20 videos. The article talks about his early and private life, career, sexuality, his debts and intellectual background. It then goes on about his plays and poems. How they were published, received and a summary of each work. The article continues and talks about Shakespeare’s sources, questions of authorship and then literary criticism from the seventeenth century, eighteenth century, romantic critics and twentieth century and beyond. The end of the article features many sources for additional reading and also features the names and degrees of each author after their given part in the article.

The Wikipedia article discusses subjects that are in the Encyclopaedia article. The Encyclopaedia Britannica article covers more topics in a more detailed fashion. Both articles discuss Shakespeare’s life, death, career, works, styles, and influences. Wikipedia has separate pages for his plays. This could result in more information about that particular work, where Britannica list summaries of the plays under William Shakespeare’s article. An example of the differences is that the Britannica article features more helpful pictures as well as videos from some adaptions of Shakespeare’s work and informative videos that would aid to research on his life and that era. The Wikipedia article offers few photographs and no videos.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica offers many options in various fields for additional reading. Such as: biographies, staging and acting companies, history of Shakespeare criticism, censorship, language and imagery and deconstruction. The Primary contributors for the Britannica article are Terence John Bew Spencer, a Professor of English Language and Literature, John Russell Brown, a Professor of Theatre, and David Bevington, World authority on Shakespeare.

The Wikipedia article offers links to the Wikipedia articles on English Renaissance theatre and World Shakespeare Bibliography under See Also but have over one hundred references listed.

These lists feature regularly updated websites and many books published in the past decade. This shows that the information they contain is current and up to date with new information.

Both articles contain a comprehensive amount of information and are ‘good’ articles but I believe the Encyclopaedia Britannica article written in a more formal and educational manner. There is nothing saying that the Wikipedia article need further editing but I think it could be revised and rewritten to sound more professional then it does. Both articles are kept up to date and current with regular updates.

An example of comparison between the two is Shakespeare’s Sources. The Britannica article contains over 1200 words under the subject and the Wikipedia article contains fewer than 200 words. Both articles contain similar information. Britannica adds for information, depth and examples of proof. This shows the professionalism of the article. Having experts with degrees in the subject also help with creating verifiable sources instead of anyone with a computer being able to edit the page.

Resources
Wikipedia contributors. "William Shakespeare." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.

"William Shakespeare." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. .

" William Shakespeare." 2012. Biography.com 12 Nov 2012, 09:16 http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323

Ackroyd, Peter. Shakespeare: The Biography. London: Chatto & Windsor, 2005. Print.

Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998. Print.

Bryson, Bill. Shakespeare: The World as Stage. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007. Print.

Kay, Dennis. Shakespeare: His Life, Work, and Era. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994. Print.

Knights, L.C. Some Shakespearean Themes. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959. Print.

Nolen, Stephanie. Shakespeare’s Face. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 2002. Print.

Sanders, Wilbur. The Dramatist and the Received Idea: Studies in the Plays of Marlowe and Shakespeare. London: Cambridge, 1968. Print.

Wikipedia contributors. "William Shakespeare's influence." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 11 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.

Wikipedia contributors. "William Shakespeare's style." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2012.