The Wikipedia Revolution: How A Bunch of Nobodies Created The World's Greatest Encyclopedia

non-fiction by Andrew Lih

Blurb

The Wikipedia Revolution: How A Bunch of Nobodies Created The World's Greatest Encyclopedia is a 2009 popular history book by new media researcher and writer Andrew Lih.
At the time of its publication it was "the only narrative account" of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. It covers the period from Wikipedia's founding in early 2000 up to early 2008. Written as a popular history, the text ranges from short biographies of Jimmy Wales, Larry Sanger and Ward Cunningham, to brief accounts of infamous events in Wikipedia's history such as the Essjay controversy and the Seigenthaler incident.
Lih describes the importance of early influences on Wikipedia including Usenet, Hypercard, Slashdot, and MeatballWiki. He also explores the cultural differences found within sister projects such as the German Wikipedia, the Chinese Wikipedia, and the Japanese Wikipedia.
There is a foreword by Wales, and an afterword partially created by volunteers through an online wiki detailing the problems and opportunities of Wikipedia's future.
The UK edition, published by Aurum Press Ltd, contains an additional section on the Virgin Killer Controversy of December 2008.

First Published

2009

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