Nupedia facts for kids
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Type of site
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Internet encyclopedia project |
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| Available in | English, German, Spanish, French, Italian |
| Owner | Bomis |
| Created by | Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger |
| Current status | Defunct since September 2003; succeeded by Wikipedia |
Nupedia was an online encyclopedia written in English. Volunteers wrote its articles. Then, experts carefully checked them. All the articles were free to use and share.
Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger started Nupedia. It was online from March 2000 to September 2003. Nupedia is mostly known as the project that came before Wikipedia.
Unlike Wikipedia, Nupedia was not a "wiki." This means people couldn't easily edit articles right away. It also had a very long checking process for articles. This was called "peer review." The goal was to make Nupedia's articles as good as professional encyclopedias. Nupedia wanted smart people and scholars to help write for it.
Before it closed, Nupedia had 25 articles that finished its review process. In 2008, CNET said Nupedia was one of the best websites that no longer exists.
Contents
The Story of Nupedia
How Nupedia Started
In late 1999, Jimmy Wales had an idea. He wanted to create an online encyclopedia. It would be built by volunteers. In January 2000, he hired Larry Sanger to manage it. The project went online on March 9, 2000.
By November 2000, only two full articles were ready. They had been published.
Nupedia's Free Content
From the start, Nupedia was a free content encyclopedia. This means its articles could be used and shared freely. Bomis, Jimmy Wales' company, planned to earn money. They would do this by showing ads on the Nupedia website.
At first, Nupedia used a special license. Wales and Sanger made it up. Later, it used the Nupedia Open Content License. In January 2001, it changed to the GNU Free Documentation License. This happened because Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation suggested it.
The Birth of Wikipedia
Also in January 2001, Nupedia started Wikipedia. At first, Wikipedia was not meant to be a full encyclopedia. It was a side-project. It allowed people to work on articles for Nupedia. These articles would then go through Nupedia's peer review.
As Wikipedia grew, it attracted many new users. It began to run on its own. However, Larry Sanger first led Wikipedia's activities. He was the chief editor for Nupedia.
Why Nupedia Closed Down
Wikipedia's success led to Nupedia slowly closing. Jimmy Wales decided to stop paying Sanger in December 2001. Sanger then left both Nupedia and Wikipedia.
After Sanger left, Nupedia became even less popular than Wikipedia. As Nupedia was used less, people sometimes suggested changing its articles. They thought they could become Wikipedia articles. But this was never done. After Nupedia closed, its articles were moved into Wikipedia.
How Nupedia Checked Articles (Peer Review)
Nupedia's articles all went through a "peer review" process. This was a careful check by other experts. Here are the steps they followed:
- Assignment: Someone was given a topic to write about.
- Finding a lead reviewer: A main expert was chosen to check the article.
- Lead review: The main expert checked the article.
- Open review: Other experts could also check the article.
- Lead copyediting: The article's grammar, punctuation, and layout were improved.
- Open copyediting: Other people could help improve the writing.
- Final approval and markup: The article was approved and prepared for the website.
People who wrote for Nupedia were supposed to be experts. They needed to know a lot about their topic. However, a good writer could sometimes write an article, even if they weren't an expert. People who changed content on Nupedia were expected to be "true experts." They usually needed to have PhDs. This means they had a very high level of education in their field.
Related Pages
Images for kids
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All three logos used by Nupedia. The first logo was used from March to August 2000, the second from August 2000 to February 2001, and the third from February 2001 to September 2003.
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Example of a Nupedia article on the classical era of music.
See also
In Spanish: Nupedia para niños
