Since the day Wikipedia was launched (Jan. 15, 2001, according to, ahem, Wikipedia), there's been debate over the merits of the crowdsourced encyclopedia.
On the one hand are those, often dismissed as stick-in-the-mud curmudgeons, who believe that creating an encyclopedia is a professional's job, that history should be left to the historians, lest mistaken common knowledge be given the stamp of veracity (citation needed). On the other are those who argue that crowdsourcing gives a more democratic repository of knowledge, allows more perspectives than simply that of academia, and that individual subject matter experts are best to to define a living history.
Who's right? We'll leave the last word to Martin Brodeur, multiple Stanley Cup winner, legendary NHL goalkeeper, and Canadian Olympian. Sources close to my desk e-mailed me what is allegedly a screen shot of Brodeur's Wikipedia entry, which had this appended after Canada's 5-2 upset loss to the U.S. in Olympic men's hockey:
“On Feb. 21, 2010, Martin Brodeur died of a stroke during the opening 30 seconds of the Canada vs. USA Olympic hockey game. His death was not immediately noticed, and his corpse was allowed to stay in net for the remainder of the game.”
Curmudgeons 1, Dilettantes 0.
