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Assignment #2
Choose a Wikipedia article to compare to another article. I chose the article on Xinjiang and compared it to Encyclopædia Britannica.

Summary of Articles
From Wikipedia, Xinjiang, known as ‘new frontier’ in Chinese is a large autonomous region in the west of China bordering Gansu province as well as Qinghai and Tibet and neighbor to such countries as Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Russia among others. It is sparsely populated, with a large ethnic population who are mainly Muslims. It is officially named Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to reflect the largest cultural group in the region. Notable geographic features include the Tian Shan Mountains, Taklamakan Desert, and Turpan basin. Xinjiang has a long history and has played a role in several empires, among them the Hun, as well as many Chinese dynasties. It has widely been part of the famed Silk Road of central Asia and was well known for its jade. More recently Xinjiang was reclaimed as a region of China in 1949 amid tension with the Soviet Union. Major cities include Urumqi, Hotan and Kashgar while the climate can be described as semi-arid or ‘desert,’ although it gets quite cold in the mountainous areas. Xinjiang’s economy gets a boost from its oil and mineral reserves, although agriculture plays a role for many, as well as trade with its central Asian neighbours. The south of Xinjiang is much poorer than those places in which the Han Chinese dominate. Demographically Xinjiang is a diverse mix of people from different ethnic backgrounds. Xinjiang is increasingly well connected to other parts of China, as well as Central Asia and even parts of Europe by extension, by road and rail. There is a separatist struggle by some Uyghurs to be seen as an independent country, which has caused some tension especially in recent years.

From Encyclopædia Britannica, Xinjiang, or Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, occupies the North West corner of China. Xinjiang is a desert and sometimes mountainous region, with pastoralists and agriculturalists inhabiting oases and wandering the vast plains. Recently Han Chinese have increasingly settled the region in an attempt to boost the economy. There is supposed freedom of identity in Xinjiang but ethnic tension exists between Han and Uighurs. Important geographical features include the Junggar Basin, Tarim Basin and Tien Shan mountains. Xinjiang is remote from the ocean and has a continental, dry, climate. The plant life is not very varied due to the desert environment but different trees do exist, especially in mountainous areas. Big game is present in Xinjiang including antelopes, elks and bears among other animals. Xinjiang has over 40 ethnic groups, of which the Han, Uighur, Hui and Kazakh dominate. Languages come from Turkic and Mongolian bases in addition to Han Chinese. Islam is followed by the Uighurs and the Hui while Mongolians practice a form of Buddhism. Major cities include the Capital Urumqi, Turfan and Kashgar. Irrigation is important for agriculture in Xinjiang and wheat is an important crop. Xinjiang is rich in minerals as well as petroleum and natural gas. Xinjiang is linked to other parts of China by road, rail and air as well as destinations in Central Asia. Xinjiang recognizes local leaders in governance, many of which obtain positions of power. The region has a rich cultural history as represented by different religious groups. Islam has flourished in recent years and ancient temples and towns dot the region. Historically Xinjiang has been sparsely populated and influenced by nomadic traders along the Silk Road. Since the 13th century empires and dynasties have had control over the region and in 1955 it was given its title of Xinjiang: autonomous region. After suffering setbacks in the 1960s and 70s Xinjiang has seen a resurgence of late, with the Chinese actively involved in boosting the economy. Unfortunately an influx of Han Chinese has led to ethnic tension, including deadly riots in recent years.

Overall Contents
In general both articles discuss many of the same aspects of Xinjiang though not without their differences. History seems far more important for Wikipedia and is featured predominantly at the beginning of the article, while it comes at the end in Britannica. As is expected geography plays a large role in both articles, with Wikipedia placing it under Geography and Geology while Britannica simply lists it under Land. Wikipedia includes major cities under Geography and Geology while it is included under the People heading in Wikipedia. As mentioned, Britannica has a People section, which discusses different ethnic and religious groups as well as settlement patterns, in addition to a Cultural Life section. Wikipedia has something similar called Demographics although Religion is given a brief heading also. Economy as well as Transportation are discussed in both articles in about equal weight. Both articles mention politics and Government though it is merely presented as a list in Wikipedia and given a more thorough explanation in Britannica.

References, Footnotes and External Links
In regards to references, footnotes and external links Wikipedia provides many. Some books mentioned discuss the Silk Road and are only loosely based around Xinjiang specifically. Modern examples of books that do discuss Xinjiang in more detail include works by James A Millward of Georgetown University Department of History and Christian Tyler, a journalist who has an interest in the Uighur people. These modern books are balanced by the work of William Mesny, an adventurer, who wrote about China in the 1800s. Likewise an article about modern Uighur protest is contrasted by a book about The Muslim Rebellion in Chinese Central Asia in the 1860s-1870s. Footnotes and other links are numerous and varied, from some of the authors mentioned above to many newspaper articles, especially those which discuss the conflict in modern Xinjiang. There are even links to the government of Xinjiang website and indeed a link to the encyclopedia Britannica article itself. Links to a Chinese central television documentary on the creation of Xinjiang and to an article on the news portal Xinhuanet on the development of Xinjiang are interesting in that their perspective may be vastly different than for instance some Uighur peoples view of their territory. Overall there seems to be a wealth of different sources about Xinjiang here, with an emphasis put on history in the recommended books and articles. Wikipedia is a collectively edited encyclopedia and the Xinjiang page has been modified by many individuals over the years, many of whom seem to have an interest in China or Central Asia but perhaps not the academic background in the area.

Britannica has fewer references than Wikipedia and the article is written by a few main contributors, Victor C. Falkenheim Emeritus Professor and Former Chairman, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Toronto and Chiao-Min Hsieh, Professor of Geography, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both seem to have contributed to many of the articles on the Provinces and regions of China in Britannica, which can be both a good and bad thing: good in that it seems they know a lot about China as a whole but bad in that neither seem to focus on Xinjiang exclusively, although Chiao-Min Hsieh seems to have an interest in Western China in general. Related articles seem to focus far less on history than in Wikipedia, including one article titled “Xinjiang is a Good Place.” Other articles touch on economy (especially oil), agriculture and the threat of terrorism in Xinjiang. External links include chinaculture.org and the China internet information center. It is hard to judge the accuracy of these Chinese websites although they both avoid politics and history and read like mini encyclopedia articles of their own.

Overall Comparison
While the Wikipedia article on Xinjiang is generally well written it seems like there is room for improvement in different areas. One of the most striking parts of the article is the importance placed on history ; it is the first sizeable section at the top of the article and quite long (as much as 20-25% of the article). In short history demands the readers attention. But it is it really warranted? I would argue no, in that there is already a Wikipedia article on the history of Xinjiang which it seems to draw much of its information from. People wishing to read about the history of Xinjiang could do so there without it necessarily taking up so much room in the article proper. Is it warranted in its placement at the top of the article? Again I might argue no. What strikes me as far more important is the Demographics section, which details the different ethnic groups in the region and goes a little bit into the history of those groups and how they have come to make up modern Xinjiang. While history in itself seems to be event based and kind of dry from a certain perspective, the Demographics section seems to be more lively and interesting and would warrant being higher up in the article.

Wikipedia does a nice job summarizing the Geography and Geology of the region but there are some interesting inclusions in this section that stand out, that of time and major cities. Time describes how due to its far west location some residents keep their own time. This seems loosely connected at best to geography. It is quite an interesting statistic in its own right and perhaps deserves to be separated from the wider category (it is not mentioned in Brittanica). Major cities are lumped under the Geography heading when they could easily be combined with the Subdivisions section (although some of the metropolitan areas are listed there as well) which discusses Xinjiang’s administrative divisions. Wikipedia merely links to separate articles that exist for the major cities as well as administrative divisions without really embellishing on them at all. This could be corrected with a paragraph or at least several sentences highlighting some of the main cities of interest in the region. Among those cities Urumqi, Turpan, Hotan and Kashgar are all important cultural, economic and tourist sites and deserve some degree of recognition in the article proper.

Other observations about Wikipedia include the Politics section. This is presented merely as a list of politicians in Xinjiang as opposed to any kind of mention of how Xinjiang is governed, for instance representation by different ethnic groups, or any mention of potential political conflict. Religion is briefly touched upon but could be expanded a little, especially as it makes reference to a Buddhist site in the region but does not really say much about practicing Buddhists who live in Xinjiang. Transportation is quite detailed but does not include air, even though there are major airports that connect Xinjiang’s various cities to each other as well as to the rest of China and Central Asia. One would think air travel is becoming more and more important given Xinjiang’s growing economy and is also practical taking into account the sheer size of the region. At the end of the article special mention is given to the issue of independence of Xinjiang province. It’s interesting that it is given this position in the article as if to draw attention to it. This could easily go under the Politics heading, if it were expanded a little to include political issues as previously mentioned, and does not necessarily need to be exclusively singled out here.

Notable omissions in Wikipedia include no mention of Xinjiang cuisine (although a link to a separate Wikipedia article is provided at the end ), nothing on the plant and animal life of Xinjiang and very little on the cultural practices and customs of the region.

On the whole Brittanica, while a shorter article overall, seems more succinct while filling in more useful information than Wikipedia. First off the History section is much shorter and is located at the end of the article rather than the beginning as in Wikipedia. Britannica starts with geography (Land ) and contains much of the same information as Wikipedia with the notable inclusion of information on plant and animal life of the region. It then proceeds right into People which includes settlement patterns. This is roughly equivalent to the Demographics section of Wikipedia but seems to be given more prevalence here in terms of its importance to the overall article. Cities are mentioned here as well and given more of a description in Britannica as to their importance to the region. Government and Society is an interesting heading which is given little discussion in Wikipedia, and here the constitutional framework of Xinjiang is mentioned. Cultural life is given its own heading and discusses the different traditions by the Uighurs, Kazakhs and Mongolians. Scenic and cultural sites are also discussed and overall this focus on culture is a welcome addition.

Overall Britannica’s article on Xinjiang stands out over Wikipedia. While both have similar information, Wikipedia focuses heavily on history and links quite a bit to other articles instead of fleshing out some of the categories a little more (for instance politics and cities). Brittanica is more balanced with less of an emphasis on history and more of an emphasis on people and culture, making the article less heavy and more attractive to the reader.

Links to Other Articles of Interest
Bellér-Hann, Ildikó. "Feudal Villains Or Just Rulers? The Contestation Of Historical Narratives In Eastern Xinjiang." Central Asian Survey 31.3 (2012): 311-325. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Cliff, Thomas. "The Partnership Of Stability In Xinjiang: State--Society Interactions Following The July 2009 Unrest." China Journal 68 (2012): 79-105. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Fayaz, Sadia. "China's Xinjiang Problem And Pakistan." Dialogue (1819-6462) 7.3 (2012): 235-254. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Hao, Yufan, and Weihua Liu. "Xinjiang: Increasing Pain In The Heart Of China's Borderland." Journal Of Contemporary China 21.74 (2012): 205-225. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Lim, Rosalyn. "China's Ethnic Policies In The Xinjiang Region." Washington Journal Of Modern China 10.2 (2012): 64-89. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Primiano, Christopher B. "Participatory Democracy And Competitive Elections As The Way Forward In Xinjiang." Journal Of Muslim Minority Affairs 32.4 (2012): 545-556. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Pringle, Heather. "Battle For The Xinjiang Mummies." Archaeology 63.4 (2010): 30-35. Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Tsui, Yenhu. "Swinging Between Nomadism And Sedentarism: A Case Study Of Social And Environmental Change In The Nomadic Society Of The Altay Steppes, Xinjiang." Nomadic Peoples 16.1 (2012): 50-67. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Xinshu, Gong, and Gu Chengjun. "A Study On Trade Of Complementarity Among Xinjiang And Its Neighboring Countries." Asian Social Science 7.1 (2011): 128-132. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Yuchao, Zhu, and Dongyan Blachford. "Economic Expansion, Marketization, And Their Social Impact On China's Ethnic Minorities In Xinjiang And Tibet." Asian Survey 52.4 (2012): 714-733. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Nov. 2013.

Instructions

 * 1) Research and list 3-5 Wikipedia articles that you will consider using for your main project. Provide the citation, in MLA style, for each of the articles.
 * 2) Locate other encyclopedia sources that have articles on the same topics as the ones you listed in Wikipedia. Provide the citation, in MLA style, for each of these articles.
 * 3) Write a few paragraphs about your search process and how you chose those Wikipedia articles. Discuss also how you found the other encyclopedia articles and your initial thoughts on the differences between Wikipedia and the other encyclopedia.

Encyclopedia Articles
Kurosawa, Akira

"Kurosawa, Akira." ''Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 19 Sep. 2013.

"Akira Kurosawa." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 13 Sep. 2013. Web. 23 Sep. 2013.

"Akira Kurosawa." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Sep. 2013 .

Maned Wolf

"maned wolf." ''Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition.'' Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 21 Sep. 2013.

"Maned wolf." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 6 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Sep. 2013.

Shamanism

"shamanism." ''Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition.'' Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 19 Sep. 2013.

"Shamanism" Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained. 2003. Retrieved September 19, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com

"Shamanism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Sep. 2013. Web. 23 Sep. 2013.

Survivor

"Survivor." ''Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition.'' Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 19 Sep. 2013.

"Survivor (U.S. TV series)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21 Sep. 2013. Web. 23 Sep. 2013.

Xinjiang

"Xinjiang." ''Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition''. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 19 Sep. 2013.

"Xinjiang." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2013. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Sep. 2013

"Xinjiang." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21 Sep. 2013. Web. 23 Sep. 2013.

Summary
I chose several subjects to look at in the various encyclopedias covering a variety of different topics. The first was the filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. I have long been a fan of this director’s works and credit him for getting me interested in foreign cinema when I was a teenager through films like The Seven Samurai and The Throne of Blood. I was curious to see what information was available about his life and hopefully could learn a bit more about him from this assignment. The second was Xinjiang, an autonomous region in China which borders several Muslim countries in Central Asia and has a heavy Islamic influence. I lived in China for several years and in 2005 took a trip to Xinjiang with a friend. I was struck by the landscape and the people and have lingering memories of it until the present day. I thought it would be fun to see what was available on this region. The third subject was Shamanism. I have been interested in the topic since a trip to Peru a few years ago to a region where Shamanic beliefs were practiced. It has resonated with me since then and is something I am interested in learning more about, especially South American Shamanism which I have a little more experience with. The last two articles I explored were on the US TV series Survivor and the animal maned wolf. Survivor is a show I have followed pretty much since its beginnings and the social element is fascinating to me, the maned wolf I saw in a zoo once and it stuck with me, given its strange appearance. I thought I would see what was available on those two subjects.

Obviously I used Wikipedia for all five of these topics and was quite impressed by what I found there. I also tried to use The Encyclopedia Britannica as a companion source which in my mind is one of the most recognized Encylopedias out there and easily accessible via the Algonquin College website. I also looked at some others which I found via encyclopedia.com. For Akira Kurosawa I examined The Encyclopedia of World Biography which made sense as it was dealing with a historical figure. For Xinjiang I looked at The Columbia Encylopedia. It was one of several that came up when I searched for Xinjiang and I thought it was concise and to the point so I included it in my results. For Shamanism The Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained came up. I liked the title and thought the article was quite interesting, especially given its use of historical figures (many of which were North American Shamans) in various contexts which seemed interesting to me. For Survivor and maned wolf I stuck with Britannica as there didn’t seem to be too much else out there that I could see, at least not in any detail. I think a television program like Survivor might be limited in terms of its perceived importance to be included in a traditional encyclopedia.

Just a few thoughts on how Wikipedia might differ from other encyclopedias. For one it seems like Wikipedia covers a lot more subjects than some traditional encyclopedias, for example the show Survivor contains a great deal of information on the show itself and its individual seasons. In general Wikipedia seems like there is just as much if not more information available than other encyclopedias, an example of this is the history section of Xinjiang which is much more prevalent than Britannica. Wikipedia tends to link to other articles a lot too, even moreso than Britannica (for example the individual films of Kurosawa). This can however have a downside: for Xinjiang there seemed to be too much of an emphasis on linking to other places, for example various cities in the region were not covered in any detail on the main Xinjiang page but instead directed to their individual pages. I also saw a greater emphasis on pictures too on Wikipedia, with maned wolf having a gallery, shamanism having historical pictures and pictures of paraphernalia and costume, Xinjiang having scenic images etc. I thought Wikipedia might list less sources than other encyclopedias but the articles I read seemed to cite quite a few, including 20 or so for maned wolf which was surprising given it was not a very detailed article compared to some of the others I looked at. Overall I was quite pleased with Wikipedia at least on the surface and look forward to comparing one of the articles in more depth with another encyclopedia.