Wikipedia for Schools - that's right - and for your iPhone too...

Critical as many people are of using Wikipedia as a reputable source for information. I would argue that while it does contain the mistake or two and has been subject to high profile vandalism, it is getting more and more reliable. In fact, high profile malicious tinkering only makes Wikipedia buckle down even more. Despite the criticism, it is a great place to begin delving into a topic one knows little about. The links at the end of entries can lead you to more content that would require a bit more searching to pull together as well. For technology related topics, it is quite a good reference. Nevertheless, academia has had a hard time embracing Wikipedia for now. But for school children, the UK organization SOS Children has managed to put together a downloadable version that has been checked and cleaned up of more "adult" related content and made available to anyone. You can burn it to DVD for places that do not have web access. I think it is a good thing to see this happen. Many people dish Wikipedia without really knowing much about the editoral process or what is behind it, but with some attention projects like this one can be great for education. If a comprehensive Wikipedia made available for download is appealing to you it might be worth checking out. While geared towards school kids, keep in mind that many 5th graders are considerably smaller than adults :) Here is the intro for the package from Wikipedia (of all places)...

This 2008/9 Wikipedia DVD Selection is a free, hand-checked, non-commercial selection from Wikipedia, targeted around the UK National Curriculum and useful for much of the English speaking world. It has about 5500 articles (as much as can be fitted on a DVD with good size images) and is about the size of a twenty volume encyclopaedia (34,000 images and 20 million words).

Also of note is the iPhone app for Wikipedia that allows you download the motherlode of references into your iPhone or iPod Touch and take it with you, no wires or wireless connections needed...its a stand alone app. Just be careful you don't suffer from the iPhone Know it All syndrome at your next cocktail party. Download with care...

Keene (The University of Texas at Austin - DIIA)