[finders] Defining Authority

[finders at findability.org]

September 16, 2005: Defining Authority

I didn't set out to write a book about authority, but this topic emerged as
one of the most intriguing themes. I became fascinated by the shift from
traditional sources of authority such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the
Oxford English Dictionary, and the Wall Street Journal towards the
collective intelligence embodied in the Wikipedia.

In fact, I found myself relying on the Wikipedia as an invaluable reference
tool, alongside such authorities as Nature, Scientific American, and Harvard
Business Review. And I ended up singing the praises of the collective
intelligence embedded in heavily edited Wikipedia articles, and arguing:

    "Like relevance, authority is subjective and ascribed by the viewer."

And when it came time to solicit advance praise, I naturally asked Jimmy
Wales, founder of the Wikipedia. So, imagine my surprise when I received an
email from Jimmy in which he flat out disagreed with my definition of
authority. In short, he stated that authority is objective, and that the
Wikipedia is just plain better and more authoritative than Britannica.

We had an interesting debate via email (which I promised not to publish) and
we both ended up where we started. Since then, I've had little time to dig
into this subject. Beyond this post about the nature of authority by Clay
Shirky, I haven't found much.

So, what do you think? Is authority subjective or objective? What role is
findability playing in changing our sources of authority? And where can we
go to learn more about authority? Thanks!

PERMALINK + COMMENTS
http://www.findability.org/archives/000048.php