Re: Let's bitch, bitch, bitch!
One could argue that the Wikipedia(s) provide coverage of topics that the more established encylopaedias chose not to cover (eg the My Little Pony, Transformers etc, "youtuber"s) but then they have editorial boards that define what goes in.
In theory on Wikipedia if enough reputable authors have written enough about a topic, then it may warrant inclusion. But there's no editorial board, just a pile of editors discussing (though often arguing) amongst themselves as to whether the coverage is sufficient. And sometimes those arguments turn into arguments among editors about each other.
Articles balloon into great tracts rather than the pithy content you get in encylopaedias, until they become précis of the several books the editors have read. What is needed some times is a short introduction to the subject, and then a list of books to read where the detail is. Instead, you get something like the list of people who where on the Titanic ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passengers_of_the_RMS_Titanic ) which names every benighted soul that was on that fateful journey, and which is - for the most part - of no use or interest to anyone save the Titanic obsessive or a descendant.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
