Wikipedia is like a mirror of the available web mesh. Most of the peoples like to prefer this for any required information. Wikipedia is a non-profit site that is policed by hundreds of volunteers, yet very few of these volunteers have the experience and knowledge of a professional writer/editor. A cultural bias has seemed to have washed over many entries on the site, as general consensus replaces cold, hard facts. There is also a matter of vandalism, which the site is susceptible to. These problems, coupled with the almost obsessive behavior of many of the volunteers (try placing an external link on the site without having it removed), have led people to other sources for information. If you are looking for a different kind of online encyclopedia, try the 6 alternatives to Wikipedia listed below.
Encyclopedia.com
Encyclopedia.com is an online encyclopedic database that utilizes information from dozens of credible encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauruses, and other resources to build its content. On the front page, you can view the site’s featured topics, many of which are still being researched today. You can search directly for the topic you want, or you can browse by the first letter of its name. The site is sponsored and powered by HighBeam Research, whose logo can be seen in multiple places. The main page also provides in-depth information on where its research and information is from, including Webster’s New World Dictionary and The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Edition.
Encyclopedia.com is a useful resource for anyone needing encyclopedic research and information online. Its credible sources mean that it is of professional quality, so you do not need to worry about whether or not it is accurate, as is the case with places like wikipedia.com. It covers even extremely esoteric topics, for trivia fans or people doing research. The site’s audience is predominantly educated, younger, and slightly more female than male, and people who visit the site tend to also go to science and technology websites, other reference websites, like Britannica.com, and university and college websites, like Harvard and Stanford.
Britannica
Britannica.com is the official website of the Encyclopedia Britannica, the oldest English language encyclopedia still in print. The site features encyclopedic entries on all the sorts of topics and items that you would find in their books. In addition, the site sports many other features, including videos on interesting and Britannica-relevant topics. The Britannica store has many different educational books, DVDs, and software, as well as replicas of the original Encyclopedia Britannica. The main page has information on special things that happened each day, including famous births on each day. Plus, it also features quizzes, blog articles, special store offers, and more. You can also visit the various main topic sections, including school and library, advocacy for animals, history and society, and so forth, to see articles about each of the topics about both the past and what is happening today.
Britannica.com is a useful resource for anyone who enjoys the Encyclopedia Britannica. It is also useful as a far more in-depth version of wikipedia.org and as a general informational resource for almost any circumstance or need. The site is visited by a primarily younger, more educated crowd, and people who view to the site also often go to other reference sites, science and nature sites, and nonprofit sites.
Answers.com
Answers.com is a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange that averages over 30 million users per month. Users with any question imaginable can type any word or phrase into the search box to obtain an answer to the question. Users can also volunteer to answer questions by simply clicking “answer” next to the search box and entering any word or phrase.
Answers are obtained and compiled from a variety of sources. The site utilizes an extensive database with information collected from over 180 different reference publishers, including Encyclopedia Britannica, Barron’s Educational Series, Oxford University Press Houghton Miffin Company and many others. Each answer contains citations of reference sources, if applicable. In addition to legitimate reference sources, answers are compiled from submissions by the editorial staff, other users, and from Wikianswers.com, which is a subsidiary online website owned by the same company and similar to answers.com. However, unlike answers.com, Wikianswers.com utilizes a Q and A format among users without reference sources (except for those provided by users).
An auxiliary benefit provided by the company is an application called Answer-Tips that any user can download to their PC. The application combines with the user’s web browser, allowing a user to double-click any word within a web page and view a pop-up reference window with proper pronunciation, part of speech, definition and useful links.
wikiwix
WikiWix is a search engine which searches all of Wikipedia, much like WikiSeek. Though the site is not affiliated with Wikipedia itself, the site performs comprehensive searches which only show results from Wikipedia. The site is in both English and French , the domain itself is owned by French resident Martin Pascal. Choose from a country and then conduct yours search, the results will appear only from the country of origin but will not display results in the country of origins language or otherwise a language that you select. You results will appear in three distinct tabs, articles, atlases and photos. Peruse the search result items to find exactly what your looking for from one of the most comprehensive information and media database in the world, Wikipedia.
Howstuffworks
A popular website among information seekers around the world. Globally, howstuffworks.com gets over 9 million visitors per month. The sites visitors are evenly spread among males and females, age groups, income range, and education. The site offers a plethora of information on a wide range of topics. Visitors here can get information on the latest trends in categories ranging from tech gadgets to going green. There is a place to type in a search word or phrase, or visitors can search by clicking on one of the ’channels’ and searching there. There are maps and consumer reviews of automobiles and many other products. Also, there is a section that allows visitors to surf what’s hot and view videos. Information about the How Stuff Works television show and several quizzes are also offered on this site. The top page views for this site include the mobile travel guide, auto channel, entertainment, and computer channels. Many users say that they like to visit howstuffworks.com when they are bored. Information junkies love this site because it contains lots of information explained in plain, understandable language. Howstuffworks.com also uses illustrations to enhance understanding of the subjects being discussed. Users also like the easy navigation to their favorite subjects on the site.
Wikimedia
A homepage for the Wikimedia Foundation. This homepage contains links for their other family sites, such as; wikipedia, wikiquote, wikibooks, wikisource, wikinews, wikimediacommons, wikispecies, wikiversity, mediawiki, wikimedia (meta wiki), wikimedia (incubator) and wikimania. These resources are used to share knowledge and are not for profit. Knowledge is shared through a systematic article writing and editing process. There are over 12 million articles available on Wikipedia.com written by both volunteers and staff members. Articles can be edited by anyone, with changes to articles appearing immediately on the site. A user does not have to be registered to use the site or edit articles. Since the credibility of the articles is questionable, the Wikipedia team has tried to rectify the problem with a scale that assesses the quality of the articles. The highest rank an article can achieve is the “featured article” status. Wikimedia.org has a more male audience than female, with users in the teenage demographic. Wikimedia.org attracts an affluent audience and is popular amongst the college student and college graduate crowd. Wikimedia.org does not accept ads. This popular site reaches over 10 million people monthly in the U.S and its sister site, wikipedia.com, reaches approximately 97,000 people monthly in the U.S.
