Wikipedia vs the others

The RSS feeds from library bloggers inspire, push and amaze me. Today I was introduced by The LibrarianInBlack to Digital Reference written by Stephen Francouer. I have added Digital Reference to my feeds.

Perusing past entries in Digital Reference, I came across a series of posts (see May 5) comparing Wikipedia to three subscription online resources.

"While most of the topics were covered in all four sources, I found it interesting which sources had a main entry on the topic vs. which ones covered the topic in some other entry. For all but two topics, Wikipedia had a separate entry on each topic. This is not surprising, given that in Wikipedia, which is born digital, there is all the space in the world for yet another page, while the other three sources are all born in print, where each additional page added means greater printing costs."

A podcast on the topic of small library marketing suggested creating ones own Wikpipedia entry for the library. I went to look at Wikipedia to do that for my library. I was surprised at the policies on verifiability and original research.

At this point Wikipedia doesn't exude the cachet of authority of a subscription resource like Encyclopedia Britannica. That shady reputation may be coming to an end as more articles in Wikipedia are footnoted with verifiable sources.

And the answers are....

1. Whom was Memorial Day originally intended to honor?
.....Memorial Day originally honored Civil War soldiers.

2. In what year did Memorial Day become an official holiday?
.....Memorial Day became an official holiday in 1971

3. Which city was the first to celebrate Memorial Day?
.....Residents of Waterloo, N.Y. were the first to proclaim a day to honor deceased soldiers on May 5, 1866

4. What was Memorial Day originally called?
......Memorial Day was originally called "Decoration Day" because of the practice of decorating soldiers graves.

5. In what year did "The Star Spangled Banner" become the national anthem?
......Francis Scott Key's "The Star Spangled Banner" became the national anthem in 1931.


Thank you to the Daughters of the American Revolution for posting the questions (and answers) in their magazine "American Spirit" May/June 2008, pg 10,12

Honor the memory

Flags are flying, cemeteries have been decorated, let us remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.

The Daughters of the American Revolution, the largest womens service group in the country, was founded to honor and remember the first Patriots. "The American Spirit" is the award winning DAR magazine published 6 times a year.

The current issue has a quick quiz for Memorial Day:

1 Whom was Memorial Day originally intended to honor?
2. In what year did Memorial Day become an official holiday?
3. Which city was the first to celebrate Memorial Day?
5. In what year did "The Star Spangled Banner" become the national anthem?

I'll post the answers tomorrow but I'll bet you can find the answers through Encyclopedia Britannica in GALILEO.

Let us not forget.......