User:Wrig0345/sandbox

It is a common occurrence where elementary and high school teachers will tell their students to never use Wikipedia because they believe it to be an unreliable source of information. The reliability of Wiki can be a controversial topic. The fact that just about anyone can access Wiki and edit the articles does raise some questions. But Wikipedia has faithful editors to help keep the articles free of nonsensical topics. Outlined below is a comparison of Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia to Encyclopedia Britannica using each encyclopedia's article on Dragons.

Wikipedia
According to Wiki, dragons are mythological creatures, usually with serpentine or reptilian features, and are most commonly recognized for spouting fire from the mouth. The word dragon is derived from the Greek word "drakon" meaning giant sea fish or serpent. Wiki identifies two different cultural types of dragons: the European dragon and the Middle Eastern dragon. The European dragon is known for being a winged, fire-breathing or poisonous monster, whereas the Far East dragon resembles a very large snake and is known for its spiritual significance. The dragon is thought to represent wisdom and longevity in Chinese culture. Wiki gives a list and brief summary of dragons in Greek mythology, European mythology, Slavic mythology, Jewish mythology, Japanese mythology, Chinese mythology, and several more. Each culture tells a slightly different story of the history of dragons. Some mythologies suggest that spitting cobras are the origin of the fire-breathing dragons myth, and that dragons were capable of human speech.

Cartographers would put sea serpents and other mythological beasts in blank spaces on maps to symbolize a dangerous area. In the 21st Century dragons are depicted as creatures of sin. A modern game called Dungeons and Dragons is a role playing game and each player's dragon is dubbed good or evil depending on their species.

Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica starts off by giving a detailed description of the mythological dragon creature, saying it is a big, bat-winged creature resembling a snake or lizard with a barbed tail. It goes into the etymology of the word dragon: derived from the Greek word drakon which is used for any large snake. The belief of dragons is said to have been spread before any prior knowledge about the prehistoric dinosaurs. The appearance of dragons has changed over the years; the Chaldean dragon was said to have 4 legs, scales and wings. In Revelations in the bible, the old serpent had a great number of heads. In the Middle East where many creatures were very dangerous animals; as a result, cats are believed to be evil in nature. Greeks and Romans thought dragons as beneficent powers, meaning heightened senses. In a lot of Christian art works, because dragons were associated with sin, they are seen under the feet of saints and martyrs.

Because the dragon possessed terror-inspiring and protective qualities it was incorporated into war-like emblems. King Agamemnon possessed a shield with a blue, three-headed dragon on it. Dragons could be found carved into the prows of Norse warriors' ships. In England, the dragon was among the most popular royal ensigns in war. Recently in the 20th century the dragon was found in the armorial bearings of the Prince of Wales. Dragons are thought of as beneficent creatures. The Chinese dragon that represents the ying yang and is a member of the royal family: it represents heaven, activity and manliness. Although the dragon in Chinese and Japanese culture is known for its power in the air but they rarely have wings in Japanese and Chinese culture. Furthermore, dragons are said to be one of the most defined forced of nature in Taoism. In modern times, the Latin word for dragon, draco, is used for a number of small lizard species.

Compare and contrast
Britannica's initial description of a dragon was more specific than Wikipedia's description. Wiki made its description more general whereas Encyclopedia Britannica went into detail: "huge, bat winged, lizard-creature or snake with a barbed tail". Wikipedia went into more depth about the etymology of the word dragon, whereas Britannica mainly focused on the origins from Greece; Wiki made a note of the Latin meaning of of the word dragon. Both Wikipedia and Britannica explained some different appearances dragons took depending on different cultures. Some cultures said they had four legs where others say they have two or none, some cultures said they had feathers and some cultures claimed they had scales; a scaled dragon was more focused in the European cultures.

Wikipedia did a good job of going into detail about the mythologies of dragons. There are nine different subtitles labeled "_________ mythology", where the blank is filled in with a different place (ex. Greek, Vietnamese, Slavic, Chinese, and so on). There was some comparing to other cultures of the history of the dragon in Wikipedia and it gave a lot of information and background on the history of dragon mythology. Britannica's history of the dragon was more brief than the one on Wiki. It didn't have any subtitles or headings; there was a title, and then the four paragraph article. Britannica's article was more of a summary that highlighted some interesting facts of dragon mythology than anything.

As for visuals, Wikipedia offered a much greater variety than Britannica did. Britannica gave one very intricate picture of dragon from the Nine Dragon Wall in Bei Hai Park, Beijing. It is a very beautiful picture but the article doesn't explain anything about it or give it context. Its just there. On the other hand, Wikipedia offered a variety of pictures as Wikipedia often does in its articles. For the main article picture it was one of Mario the Magnificent (dragon mascot of Drexel University. Like Britannica, Wikipedia also had a picture of the part of the Nine Dragon Wall in Bei Hai Park. It is a different piece of the wall, but essentially the same picture. Around the heading for the European mythology of dragons Wikipedia presented a picture of The Order of the Dragon, which was created to defend Europe against invading forces in the 15th century (Ottoman Turks). For Greek mythology there was a picture of an ancient mosaic of a dragon, and there were two pictures in reference to Slavic dragon mythology, showing two different kinds of dragons. So Wikipedia does a good job of posting many visuals and giving the pictures context, instead of just posting a picture and calling it a day.

Britannica gives a total of eleven hyperlinks, and Wiki gives well over 100. Wikipedia goes a little overboard on the hyperlinks, giving links to things that are not specific to the topic at hand. Britannica gives a couple handfuls of relevant hyperlinks that help the reader explore deeper into dragons, not just the general mythology of them. There is one particular link to an article of a Chinese dragon called Lung, which represents the symbol for yang. The article gives a short and sweet article about this special Chinese dragon that dwells in rivers and other bodies of water. In that article, Britannica goes on to give other examples of Chinese dragons and what they represent while also mentioning how they differ from the European dragon concept.

About the list of references and contributors
The majority of Wikipedia's references were from books, such as, The Illustrated Book of Dragons and Dragon Lore, which was published in 2013. This was the most recent reference in the list of 33. The dates of the published books varied widely. There were books published back in the late 1800's. Mythical Monsters by Charles Gould was published in 1896 and is the oldest reference in the list. The most recent publications was in 2011. Who knows how old this information is?

Wikipedia provided a large list of further reading, whereas Encyclopedia Britannica only provided three other sources of information, one of which was Encyclopedia Britannica for kids. Wikipedia provides a variety of extra information such as Dragonology: a book by a man about dragons. This book is filled with games and loose materials that could easily get lost. Wiki also provided three different lists of dragons in three different scenarios, which could be very helpful depending on what the person who is researching dragons is looking for.

Encyclopedia Britannica provided a large list of its editors, but it never says whether or not they assisted in the making of the Britannica article. It does, however, note that the article was last edited on November 11th, 2010, and before that, May 2nd, 2008.

The Wikipedia article was last edited on November 4th, 2013 (the original due date for this project), and before that it was the September 30th, 2013.

Article assessment
Both articles are very informative, despite Britannica's article being so brief. Britannica seems to be more meant for giving an introduction into dragon mythology rather than being a one stop information article for almost everything you need to write an informative paper. Wikipedia offers more than just an introduction to the topic of dragons. It offers a lot of background information into the history of dragons, dragon mythology, the etymology of the word dragon, animals that could have inspired the dragon myths, and modern depictions of dragons.

Needless to say, Wikipedia offers a lot more information on dragons than Britannica. With Wiki, one could write a handful of different types of research papers and/or essays. A comparative essay, and argumentative essay, an informative essay, the list could go on. Wikipedia also offers a HUGE amount of hyperlinks and other sources where one could find more information on dragons. If an essay topic was Greek mythology of dragons, there's a link for that. If you were to follow the references that Wikipedia users have listed there is a book called Mythical Monsters by Charles Gould published in 1896. It is an old book but it has three chapters purely on dragons: chapter VI The Dragon, chapter VII The Chinese Dragon, and chapter VIII The Japanese Dragon. There is also a book called An Instinct for Dragons by David E. Jones and it is a synthesis of art, mythology, anthropology and its all about the dragon, which Jones discovers is a universal creature and symbol.

Wikipedia does provide an almost overwhelming amount of information all about dragons. One could say you can easily get lost in the mysterious and magical world of dragons. The topic remains very interesting in all aspects. It could e a good research project for a college student or an interesting and amusing speech for a student in grade 5.