Doukhobor Content Added to Wikipedia

by Jonathan J. Kalmakoff

A substantial amount of Doukhobor-related content has recently been added to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, making it a potentially helpful source of general information on the Russian religious movement. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that differs from other encyclopedias in a significant way: along with reading the articles in Wikipedia, anyone can add or edit articles however they like.

There are presently six full-length articles devoted to the Doukhobors available in seven languages (English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish and Arabic) on Wikipedia:

The first, entitled “Doukhobor” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doukhobor) contains a useful overview of the movement – perhaps one of the best general overviews presently available online. It is divided into a number of topics and sub-topics including: History (Early days – Ukraine and southern Russia; Transcaucasian Exile; the Religious Revival and the Crises; Migration to Canada; On the Prairies of Canada; in British Columbia; and Staying Behind); Current Status (Canada; Georgia and Russia); Heritage (Historical Sites and Museums); Doukhobors in Popular Culture (Literature; Music); See Also; External Links; References; and Further Reading.

Another article, entitled “Peter Vasilyevich Verigin” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Vasilevich_Verigin) highlights the Russian philosopher and activist who was perhaps the most well-known leader and preacher of the Doukhobor movement. The article includes the following topics and sub-topics: Biography (In Transcaucasia; Northern Exile; The Exodus; In Canada); Verigin’s Death; Successors; Published Works by Verigin; and References.

An article is devoted to the “Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Community_of_Universa...), the main spiritual and economic organization of communal Canadian Doukhobors from the early 20th century until its bankruptcy in 1938. Topics and sub-topics include: History of the Name; First Attempts at Communal Economy in Saskatchewan, 1898-1907; Migration to British Columbia and Peter V. Verigin’s Incorporation of CCUB, 1918-1924; After the Death of Verigin; Bankruptcy; CCUB Trust Fund; References.

Another article highlights the life and times of “Vasily Nikolaevich Pozdnyakov” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Nikolaevich_Pozdnyakov), one of the members of the Doukhobor community in Russia who was exiled to Siberia for refusing to bear arms and who later became disillusioned with Verigin’s community in Canada.

The Sons of Freedom or “Freedomites” are featured in a Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedomites) which examines their early history in Saskatchewan and later in the Kootenay and Boundary districts of British Columbia. The article includes the following topics and sub-topics: Doctrine; Public Protest; Later Controversies; Sources and References.

The focus of another article is “Florence Storgoff” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Storgoff). Also known as “Big Fanny”, Storgoff was a leading member of the Sons of Freedom movement and gained attention in 1963 when she led the "Trek" involving hundreds of Freedomites camping out at Agassiz Mountain Prison to protest the arrest of fellow members.

Each full-length article is well structured, and includes links to other Wikipedia pages as well as to other relevant and credible web sites, including the Doukhobor Genealogy Website (www.doukhobor.org), www.spiritwrestlers.com and other published sources.

The recent substantial addition of Doukhobor content to Wikipedia is largely attributable to Vladimir Menkov, a Russian academic based out of the University of Indiana. For several years, Menkov has been actively involved in the Wikipedia and open-source (i.e. anyone can edit) community, and has taken an interest in summarizing existing information about the Doukhobors in this media. It should be noted, however, that anyone may submit Doukhobor content to Wikipedia. It can be expected that additional Doukhobor content will be contributed by a variety of sources in the months and years to come.

About Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free content encyclopaedia project. The name Wikipedia is a portmanteau (combination) of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopaedia. Wikipedia's articles provide links to guide the user to related pages with additional information.

Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference Web sites. There are more than 75,000 active contributors working on some 9,000,000 articles in more than 250 languages. As of today, there are 2,313,473 articles in English; every day hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world make tens of thousands of edits and create thousands of new articles to enhance the knowledge held by the Wikipedia encyclopedia.

Visitors do not need specialized qualifications to contribute, since their primary role is to write articles that cover existing knowledge; this means that people of all ages and cultural and social backgrounds can write Wikipedia articles. Most of the articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet, simply by clicking the edit this page link. Anyone is welcome to add information, cross-references or citations, as long as they do so within Wikipedia's editing policies and to an appropriate standard. Substandard or disputed information is subject to removal. Users need not worry about accidentally damaging Wikipedia when adding or improving information, as other editors are always around to advise or correct obvious errors, and Wikipedia's software is carefully designed to allow easy reversal of editorial mistakes.

Because Wikipedia is an ongoing work to which, in principle, anybody can contribute, it differs from a paper-based reference source in important ways. In particular, older articles tend to be more comprehensive and balanced, while newer articles more frequently contain significant misinformation, unencyclopedic content, or vandalism. Users need to be aware of this to obtain valid information and avoid misinformation that has been recently added and not yet. However, unlike a paper reference source, Wikipedia is continually updated, with the creation or updating of articles on topical events within seconds, minutes or hours, rather than months or years for printed encyclopedias.

Wikipedia Pros & Cons

There is a great debate circling about the issue of whether or not Wikipedia, the ninth most visited space on the Internet, is a useful resource. Before deciding, it is useful to examine some of the pros and cons of the research mechanism.

On one hand, Wikipedia, which includes 8.2 million articles in 253 different languages, is the single largest Encyclopedia ever assembled. It is simple and easy to use and is 100% free. Wikipedia rules require that articles be written in a neutral point of view. They cannot contain original research; rather they must be based on existing information, taken from verifiable sources. Based on open-source principles, it is constantly evolving, and presumably improving, over time. Perhaps the single biggest pro for using Wikipedia is still the fact it is almost unlimited in the information it provides, or can potentially provide.

On the other hand, Wikipedia also has its share of cons. First and foremost is the fact that not everything can be found, and even if you do find an article of the subject you're researching, there's a good chance it'll be a stub. For example, until very recently, the Doukhobor entry on Wikipedia was a ‘stub’ - a very brief summary of the topic, lacking in major key points. It follows that many Wikipedia entries tend to be generic and/or fragmentary.

Secondly, easier resources, like Wikipedia, do not equal academic resources. Anyone (literally anyone) with access to the Internet can edit the articles, and Wikipedia contributors are often not knowledgeable experts on the topics. In some cases, the grammar is sometimes bad, and in other cases, opinions (rather than facts) are expressed. This rarely happens, but has been known to occur.

Third, sometimes the Wikipedia information simply isn't true, although there are ways to verify without too much trouble. To help determine whether the information you are reading is true, check the bottom of the article for references and sources. If there are references to outside links, the changes are greater that the author of that article actually did his or her research.

As well, it has been suggested that less popular Wikipedia topics will most always contain less trustworthy information, because fewer people are editing them. Also, because the content is free, there is a chance that less research is involved in creating the articles. Moreover, Wikipedia information is difficult to properly cite in a paper, because the content is constantly edited and updated. Finally, Wikipedia entries sometime use people’s names, pictures, and research without their permission.

Certainly Wikipedia has its flaws. However, as long as one is aware of them, it can serve as a potentially useful one-stop source of introductory reference information on the Doukhobors and other subjects. For serious research purposes, however, the information contained in Wikipedia should be verified and cross-referenced with other credible published sources.