Robert McHenry
Robert Dale McHenry (born April 30, 1945 in St. Louis ) is an American author of mainly biographical works. From 1992 to 1997 he was the Vice President and Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica .
In a post that appeared on the techcentralstation.com website in November 2004 , McHenry describes Wikipedia as a "Faith-Based Encyclopedia". His main argument can be summarized: Anyone can edit the Wikipedia article, no matter how poorly educated that person is. As a result, even a well-written article will degenerate over time as ignorant or incompetent people make changes. That is why, in his opinion, Wikipedia could never become a reliable source of information. McHenry used the English article on Alexander Hamilton to clarify his argument.
McHenry via Wikipedia:
- The user who visits Wikipedia to learn about a topic or to confirm a matter or information is more likely to be in the position of a visitor to a public toilet. It could be that it is obviously dirty, so he knows he must be very careful; or it is reasonably clean that it cradles him in a deceptive sense of security. In any case, he does not know who visited this place before him.
Web links
- Howtoknow Private Homepage (English)
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The Faith-Based Encyclopedia (English)
- On Getting It (English)
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The FUD-based Encyclopedia - a counter-writ by Aaron Krowne
- McHenry responds to Aaron Krowne
- Literature by and about Robert McHenry in the catalog of the German National Library
personal data | |
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SURNAME | McHenry, Robert |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | McHenry, Robert Dale (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American author |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 30, 1945 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Louis |