If I take the trouble to write up some basic thoughts on Wikipedia and Britannica you know only one thing can happen. Yeah, within a week they both announce they’re changing their knowledge models. Kind of.

The great Brit is turning wiki (again, kind of) and Jimmy Wales has proposed building some editorial decision gates into Wikipedia.

IT World carries this:

A version of this policy, called Flagged Revisions, is in place at the German-language Wikipedia.

The decision to test Flagged Revisions on the flagship English-language Wikipedia was prompted by changes to the entries of U.S. senators Edward Kennedy and Robert Byrd that incorrectly stated the men had died.

“This nonsense would have been 100 percent prevented by Flagged Revisions,” wrote Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales in his “user talk” page.

A poll of Wikipedia users showed that 60 percent support applying Flagged Revisions to certain entries, according to Wales. Contributions would be held for approval at most for one week, but ideally “a lot less,” he wrote, adding that Flagged Revisions will be tried out “for a time-limited test.”

My take: Great move by EB. They add some small amount of user contribution/suggestion and an old brand is suddenly brought bang up to date (in its own eyes). For WP though it’s a little more uncertain. Is Wales acting like the father of a teenager who has come to realise  his progeny has a mild case of ADD and is searching for some meds to calm things down? Looks like it, he better make sure those pills have been FDA approved.