Wikipedia: the Web encyclopedia under fire

In a recent tech-related seminar to acquaint fellow Pioneer Press staffers with such wonders as Firefox, RSS and podcasts, I flagged them on the Wikipedia online encyclopedia. In a handout, I wrote:

Get hip to Wikipedia. This online encyclopedia at www.wikipedia.com must be treated cautiously because it’s the collective work of volunteers, and can be edited by anyone. A picture of Pope Benedict was once replaced, briefly, by one of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. But Wikipedia is a useful point of departure on myriad topics, provided you take great care to verify its factual info.

Just then, Wikipedia was triggering a firestorm of controversy (twin controversies, actually) that should make average users, and particularly journalists, sit up and pay attention.They're laid out for you here and here.

And here is the avalanche of follow-up news coverage.

If this doesn't scare you off, try ten Wikipedia hacks.

Update: NYT editor says not to use Wikipedia for fact checking. Like I said.