Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 3

Economics - Essay Example Some of the other factors as determinants of demand have been introduced in the theory of demand recently. The traditional theory of demand starts with the examination of the behaviour of the consumer since the market demand is assumed to be the summation of the demands of the individual consumers. Thus, the demand for a given commodity is the horizontal summation of the demands of the individual consumers. In other words the quantity demanded in the market at each price is the sum of the individual demands of all consumers at that price. The responsiveness of the demand in relation to the price or income of the consumer is referred as the elasticity of demand. There are as many elasticities of demand as its determinants. The most important of these elasticities are (a) the price Elasticity, (b) the income elasticity, and (c) the cross elasticity. The concept of elasticity of demand is important in that it s being used by the economists to explain the consumer behaviour in different market conditions. With this background this paper illustrates the importance of different kinds of elasticities of demand and the ways in which they are helpful to the economists to report on the consumer behaivour... The laws of demand and supply are an important part of in the study of economics. They help the economists to measure the relative changes in the demand due to changes in prices with the concept of elasticity of demand. (Pink Monkey) The price elasticity is a measure of the responsiveness of demand to changes in the commodity’s own price. Depending on the magnitude of the changes in demand it can be termed as either point elasticity or arc elasticity of demand. If the changes in the prices are very small, the point elasticity of demand is used as the measure of responsiveness of demand. If the changes in the prices are large then arc elasticity of demand is used as the relevant measure of responsiveness. The laws of demand and supply form the basic

Total computer Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Total computer Inc - Case Study Example Although he states that the money indicated is correct, he does not state the exact money. For this confirmation to be used in editing additional information from documents that show that the transaction took place such as cash receipts and delivery documents. In the last example, the auditor did not receive a confirmation response by email. This necessitated the undertaking of additional procedures such as examination of cash receipts and the contract between Total Computer Inc and Dot. Bomb Inc. These additional procedures helped in arranging for payments and correcting procedural issues where there was a violation of the contract between these two companies. When dealing with account receivable balances, examination of the well stated confirmation records are adequate for auditing. However, in cases where the auditor is not in a position to get the confirmation messages, additional procedures can be carried out. These are documents that indicate the existence of the transaction or the assertion. This ranges from cash receipts, shipping documentation and others that show that the transaction took

The Media In India Media Essay

The Media In India Media Essay Looking at the history of news coverage of the war and internal crisis situation, it is quite evident that the news from the area of operation has always interested the mankind. Media these days has now assumed a status which it had seldom enjoyed earlier. Starting as an institutionalized approach to generate awareness and inform masses, media has become an instrument to govern our lives. A close scrutiny and study of Mahabharata would expose to us the nuances of battle that went on between the two adversaries and till date it remains a great testimony to what the quality of battlefield reporting analyses was during the epic period in India. If we were to identify a war correspondent in correspondingly modern India, possibly William Howard Russells name could be the first one to be cited as he reported upon the first war of independence in India in 1857.The coverage of the war and internal crisis in present day scenario has taken an interesting turn with the near real time to live co verage of the events showing pictures from the crisis zone instantly. Media has been playing a vital link to the rest of India on the ongoing insurgency/militancy in Kashmir and North East. Media coverage took an upward surge almost nearing a deluge during the Kargil conflict. Twenty four into seven channels began churning the battlefield in a hunt for not only the latest stories but a series of stories eclipsing the previous one thereby arousing public interest and forming opinions. Never had there been so much support to the war effort in the recent history as was evident during the Kargil conflict. Why did it happen the way it did-did media play a role in it? Do we expect the media to be as supportive during future operations as it was during Kargil? Would the part of media that is controlled and financed by people from outside the country continue to play the ball the way it did during the Kargil conflict? Today, the images of war, for that matter peace, can decisively draw the contours of a nations public opinion even before the authorities can confirm or repudiate the authenticity. Therefore, it is all the more essential to critically analyse the role media can pl ay and how best can it be optimized without compromising any of its essential elements. Press council of India 1. Press Council is a mechanism for the pres to regulate itself. The raison detre of this unique institution is rooted in the concept that in a democratic society the press needs at once to be free and reasonable. If the press is to function effectively as the watchdog of public interest, it must have a secure freedom of expression, unfettered and unhindered by any authority, organised body or individuals. But, this claim to press freedom has legitimacy only if it is exercised with due sense of responsibility. The press must therefore scrupulously adhere to accepted norms of journalistic ethics and maintain high standard of professional conduct. Where the norms are breached and freedom is defiled by unprofessional conduct, a way must exist to check and control it. But, control by government or official authorities may prove destructive of this freedom. Therefore, the best way is to let peers of the profession, assisted by a few discerning layman to regulate it through a properly stru ctured representative impartial machinery. Hence, the Press Council. 2. The Press Council of India was first set up in the year 1966 by the Parliament on the recommendations of the First Press Commission with the objective of preserving the freedom of the press and of maintaining and improving the standards of press in India. The present Council functions under the Press Council Act 1978. It adjudicates the complaints against and by the press for violation of ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press respectively. The Press Council is headed by a chairman, who has by convention, been a retired judge of Supreme Court of India. The council consists of 28 other members of whom 20 represent the press and are nominated by the press organisation/news agencies recognised and notified by the Council as all India bodies of categories such as editors, working journalists and owners and managers of newspaper, five members are nominated from the two houses of the Parliament and represent cultural, literary and legal fields as nominees of Sahitya Academ y, University Grant Commission and Bar Council of India. The members serve on the Council for a term of three years. The Council was last reconstituted on May 22, 2001. The Press Council of India has the following function:- To help the newspaper to maintain their independence. (ii) Medium of Media Role of Media 2. Role of media is that of mediation between the government and the people of the nation. Due to its responsibilities, media is the fourth pillar of the democratic India. After 63 years of achieving independence and quest towards becoming number one power of the world by 2020 through economic growth, the role of media is somewhat uncertain and putting a question mark on the Indian journalism. Before moving ahead we need to ask ourselves and think as to is Indian media playing the role for what it has been known that is the fourth pillar of the state? If not then what role media should play? The obvious answer to this question is that the media should be fair, reliable, impartial, accurate analysis/reporting and work in an integrated manner towards the overall benefit of the people of the nation. As far as news is concerned, media should analyse the news in a very rigid manner, how it has happened and what is the very existence of the news to go to the root cause of the problem inste ad of being biased to any facts and figures available of hand or floated by anybody. But the fact remains very often rather going deep into any problem, journalists are blindly accepting the news as truth which is being formulated and carefully manipulated by the evil elements and disseminate the same publicly. Well, the entire community of journalist s cannot be placed under suspicious category for the inappropriate reporting or misdeeds of few journalists. 3. Medias basic role is to inform, influence, entertain and help develop economy of state which involves news evaluation, analysis and assessment and finally dissemination. Newspapers have a dual role; it is a quasi public institution and a free enterprise and same holds good for the electronic media also. However when the media overlooks its responsibility to the people of a nation and lays more emphasis on being free enterprise that is the problem starts. Another problem is what news is worthy and what is not, and most important is what news need not be published or broadcasted is decided by whom? The journalist is neither to be considered as a detective nor a historian but as mediator in conveying its readers all about the event. Major General Winant Sidle of the US Army says, The appropriate media role in relation to the government has been summarised aptly as being neither a lap dog nor an attack dog but, rather, a watch dog. Apart from acquisition, interpretation and disseminat ion of news, role of media can be summarised as; to create public opinion and attitudes, act as watch-dog for citizens in terms of human rights issues and abuses by institution of power, inform public with events that are balanced and finally maintain national morale by responsible news coverage. The Constitution of India and Press Freedom 4. The Constitution of India, specifically in the chapter on Fundamental Rights, surprisingly, does not mention freedom of press. Later on, Dr. Ambedkar however had mentioned that being part of the guarantees of Freedom of Speech and Expression in Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution it was not necessary to stipulate the freedom of press separately. Freedom of expression as mentioned in the Constitution implies all forms of opinions, thoughts, ideas and conviction and thus covers most of what is needed for the freedom of press. Censorship is no way covered in any provisions of the Indian constitutions. However during an emergency under the Indian Constitution, Fundamental Rights including Freedom of Expression and Speech stands suspended. The Article 19 (2) of the Constitution of India states that the freedom of the press can be restricted for reasons of sovereignty and integrity of India, preserving democracy and the security of the state, besides some other contingencies. 5. Freedom of the media in actual facts is tempered by hard ground realities such as power and influence of the ownership on editorial policies, commercial orientation of the media, government control over key resources such as newsprint, communications and advertisements. Very often media misuses the freedom given to it and it is evident from a number of issues. Media these days are more engaged in dramatization of an event or news rather than reflecting the informative part. More often, unnecessarily intruding into private lives/personal matters of the people and especially focussing on the distress victims and their families. Media has been in highlight for being involved in corrupt practices and favouring the publishers, political parties, business houses, religious institutions to name a few. Biased publishing, journalist and editor block some news while highlighting others for the reasons of there own. There have been instances where media play up regional emotions leading to s trong appeal and wide spread commotion. During reportage of war or any operations related to internal crisis situation, many a times media has show immaturity and is irresponsible in its reporting by sensationalizing and escalating the conflict. Police, politician and corporate can still be considered for double standards, but how can we expect the same standards from our journalist community. When one pillar collapses, the whole building is likely to fall down. Media being the fourth pillar need to be strong enough in breaking the ice and put forward news and make the truth distinct from ambiguous or falsehood which will entail death of social evil and the people of the nation and the state itself will live in peace. This is the responsibility than needs to be understood and taken up by the Indian journalism. Now, how they are going to shape, direct and lead the new generation of India towards to a peaceful nation as a whole is matter of time and the self awakening. Media ethics 6. Media both print and more so the electronic media plays an important catalyst in shaping the public opinions, sentiments and dogmas by promulgating accurate and desirable information and knowledge. Due to the vast intrusion of television news in public life, it has the power and can create an enduring impact on society, culture and security of a region. These days media is generally facing a qualitative crisis pertaining to the news disseminated by it and it seems as the news channels in India have their respective doctrine charted out presenting anything as news which leads to an departure from the ethical issues of journalism. They have metamorphosed themselves towards packaging of information and have adopted a policy of corporate culture wherein their basic motto has transformed from disseminating information to earning television rating points. With numerous news channels being beamed to our houses the thirst for the actual news by the public is not met due to lack of content , quality and authenticity which have deteriorated over a period of time. Electronic media in India has been irresponsible in presenting news and sensitizing crucial events without understanding and realising the impact and implications on the people and security of the nation. Investigative journalism is the in thing now where in the channels has become a self proclaimed investigating agency which to some extent is instrumental in bringing out the truth but slowly the channels are being used as a means of personal vendetta or gains by insiders as well as outsiders. 7. Media used to be known as the voice of common people and a medium to grab knowledge of the world. Media had over a period of time had built some ethics which was appreciated but with the rapid development, mushrooming of news agencies and requirement of growth it is loosing its credibility. Print media compared to electronic media was known for its accuracy and its ethics and with passage of time everything has become part of marketing and news turned into commodity. The so called free media talks the language of the agencies they are benefited from. The ethics which is being talked about is what should be written or shown and what shouldnt be. The overall aim should to add to society, nation building for a better tomorrow. Contrary to this, media coverage includes matters which are of no use to the citizen but surely for their own mileage. News is supposed to connect the world and not a soap opera in which media ethics, duties and purpose is lost. Reach of mass media 8. It is important for a country like ours to know the capabilities of available mass media facilities, readership, listener ship and viewer ship habits of the people to gauge the reach of media. But do we know when it comes to the reach of various mass media individually and in combination among the diverse population in the country. There many question which arises like how many in the country are exposed to or read newspaper, view television, listen to radio, surf internet, etc? Which one of the available media and how frequently? How many and who all read more than one newspaper, which one and where in India? During what period of the day and how frequently do the people watch TV and listen to radio? What is the duplication/overlap of programmes between different media and many more intricate questions like such will determine the influence the media will create in the people of a nation and gauge its reach. 9. In the year 2006, National Readership was carried out in India which is considered the largest survey of its kind in the world, with samples from 2,84,373 house interviews to measure the media penetration and exposure in both urban and rural India and obviously the readership of publications. According to the survey, today average urban adult is spending 44 minutes per day reading magazines and dailies. Readership of dailies continue to grow as compared to the previous year however there is a decline in magazine readership both in urban and rural India. Satellite television has grown in leaps and bound and has a considerable reach: TV now reaches 112 million Indian homes. Internet has also spread predominantly with a reach now exceeding 12 millions. Resurgence of radio cannot be ignored as its reach has increased to 27% of the population tuning in to any radio station in the average week, almost equaling the number of readers. This boom in media reach and penetration will play a v ital role towards national perception and national security as such. Media Ownership and control in India 10. In February 1995 in a landmark judgement, Supreme Court of India ruled that the airwaves are public property and no longer under government control. In 1996 a Broadcasting bill was formulated and an autonomous Broadcasting Authority was vested with regulatory powers. The ministry of information and broadcasting in June 1998 allowed private Indian satellite channels to uplink from India. With the media being liberalised entry of foreign media was eminent, now the question which comes to mind is; do foreign media impact the policy decisions, a tool of cultural imperialism, western business and foreign policy interest in turn hampering national security. The positive side may be in favours of foreign media on the ground of plurality, competition and readers right to know. Their influence will mould the perception of the population as they wield through their agenda. 11. It is very interesting to know as to who controls the various media entity in India and obviously it will stem out from the ownership. A very popular news channel NDTV, is funded by gospels of charity in Spain which supports communism. CEO of this company is Prannoy Roy who is related to Prakash karat, the General Secretary of communist party of India. CNN-IBN is funded by Southern Baptist Church with its branches all over the world with its HQ in US. Times Group which includes Times of India, Mid-Day, Nav Bharat Times, Stardust, Femina, Times Now (TV news channel) and many more is owned by Benet and Coleman. Star TV is managed by an Australian, who is supported by St. Peters Pontifical Church, Melbourne. Birla Group owned Hindustan Times have changed hands which is presently owned by Shobhana Bharatiya and working in collaboration with the Times Group. English daily, The Hindu started over 125 years has been taken over by Josua Society, Berne, Switzerland. The Indian express in which ACTS Christian Ministries have a major stake. There are many other regional news print who are privately owned by Indians which have more reach and impact in the rural, semi-urban and to some extent urban population. Regional TV network like Enadu is controlled by Ramoji Rao who has connection in the film industry. 12. The ownership explains the control of media in India by external agencies be it foreigner or Indian. The news will be biased by their owners and the product that filters down to the common man will distort. The result is obvious; we are going to be fed with tailor made news by the companies who are holding the strings. Media responsibility 13. Freedom of press might have potential unintended effect while engaged in the internal crisis situation especially when considering modern media as a force multiplier. Many a times the media is in an awkward position when it is covering terrorist events. Medias role to protect the societys right to know comes in direct conflict with the states (military, law enforcement and investigating agencies) mission is to protect and serve, and maintain order when covering internal crisis situations. The precarious balancing act that the press faces while covering terrorist incidents is like having censorship on one side of the weigh scale and freedom on the other side. During internal crisis situations, press needs to be always vigilant about balancing their freedom relating protecting the peoples right to know against their responsibility to play a constructive role. The more the freedom and accuracy goes into reporting, the more the coverage favours the terrorists and vice versa. Issues f acing the governments and media outlets before, during and after a terrorist incident need to be closely examined by both the agencies towards dissemination of information which will strike a balance. The terrorist and governments agendas tend to dramatically oppose, while the media position is often judgment call. Media is a force multiplier stuck in between complete censorship and total freedom of the press. It is important that the media continues to play a constructive role during times of local and national crisis but it is also critical that the media be allowed to continue to provide a counterbalance.

Left Brain vs Right Brain Essay -- Human Intellect

The Left Brain vs The Right Brain: How Does This Impact Learning Do you ever hear some people say that, ‘I learn this way, because I’m left or right brain dominant,’ but what is your learning style? Some people go majority of their life, not knowing which learning style works for them. It is good to know what this learning style is so people can respond most effectively to the material being presented. Templeton (2003). The better people know their own learning style, the faster they can develop, and process information. The hemisphere of the brain; which are call the left and right brain; plays a major part in influencing people learning style. The left and right brain are only connected by nerves fibers; which are called the corpus callosum; helps share information between the two brains. Knowing which side of the brain is dominant will better help them understand what learning style is theirs. Back in (1981) Noble Prize Winner Roger Sperry was one of the first scientists to do an experiment on the two brains, which was call, the â€Å"split-brain† experiment. His conclusion was that there appear to be two modes of thinking, verbal and nonverbal, represented rather separately in left and right hemispheres respectively and that our education system, as well as science in general, tends to neglect the nonverbal form of intellect. What it comes down to is that modern society discriminates against the right hemisphere. Eden (2011). Scientist will say that the left brain is more of an Auditory Learner, and the right brain is more of a Visual Learner. Some people would say that whatever gender they are weights on how people learn, and what side of their brain to use in school; which impact they’re learning. In the prior statements, it rea... ...on, M. (2007). Negotiating for dummies, 2nd edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing INC. Eden, Dan. (2011). Left brain: right brain. Retrieved from, http://www.viewzone2.com/bicam.html Gibson, Karen. (2002). Right or left brain: which is dominant in your family. Learning Styles and Hemispheric Dominance (Part 2). Retrieved from, http://www.leapingfromthebox.com/art/kmg/learningstyles2.html Morris, R. (2006). An Examination into the theory of brain, lateralization, learning styles, and the implications for education. Left Brain, Right Brain, Whole Brain? Retrieved from, http://singsurf.org/brain/rightbrain.html Philips, H. (2006). Introduction: human brain. New Scientist. Retrieved from, http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9969-instant-expert-the-human-brain.html Templeton, M. (2003). Learning styles. Retrieved from, http://frank.mtsu.edu/~studskl/hd/learn.html

Classic Airlines and Marketing-Mkt 571

Classic Airlines and Marketing WK 1 MKT 571 University of Phoenix Classic Airlines is the fifth largest airline carrier in the world with 375 airplanes that service 240 cities with more than2,300 flights each day. Since its inception 25 years ago, Classic Airlines has more than32,000 employees. Last year the company had a net income of 10 million dollars (Classic Airlines, 2010). Current challenges Although the company is making a good profit, it has also encountered some major challenges. The downturn in the economy has caused net income to decrease. This year the company had a net income of $10 million, however; the previous year had a net incomeof $71 million. The company has experienceda 10% decrease in share prices. Classic Airlines has the highest labor cost in the industry (Classic Airlines, 2010). These challenges has caused employee morale to hit an all time low. Classic Airlines is in the process of solving their current challenges and evaluating their current position in the marketplace. Product and services marketed and marketing concepts Classic Airlines needs to have the netprofit increase each year. This can be accomplished by developing an effective marking plan. The marketing plan should be centered on increasing passenger activity by rewarding its current customers and enticing new customers. The marketing plan should select potential markets and getting, keeping, and growing new customers by delivering superior customer value (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Classic Airlines should continue performing customer surveys. Through these surveys the company can obtain valuableinformation on how to keep existing customers and obtain new ones. These surveys can be a tool that can assist Classic Airlines implement their new marketing plan. Through these surveys the company and determine what services should be offered. Current corporate culture Classic Airlines has a mixed culture. They pay their employees top salaries,while competitors are cutting pay to employees. The company has one of the best retirement plans in the industry. However, the company plans a 15% across-the-board cost reduction over the next 18 months. Employee morale is lowest in the company's history. Conclusion Classic Airlines has some major challenges including a $61 million dollar decrease in net profit, 10% decrease in share prices, a downturn in the economy, and a need to reduce costs by 15% over the next 18 months. The company markets a frequent flier program to increase business and reward its loyal customers. The company needs to update the current rewards program. The corporate culture has been impacted by the lowest employee morale in the company's history. The company is in the process of solving their current challenges and evaluating their current position in the marketplace. References Classic Airline Scenario: Classic Airlines (2010). Retrieved March 12, 2010 from the University of Phoenix MKT/571 Management Web site: https://myresource. phoenix. edusecure/resource Hansen, R. (2010). Uncovering a company's corporate culture is a critical task for job-seekers. Retrieved on March 12, 2010 from: http://www. quintcareers. com/employer_corporate_culture. html Kotler, P. & Keller, K. ((2007). A Framework for Marketing Management (3th edition). Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey Robbins, S. (2007) Organizational Behavior (12th Edition). Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Inventory System: Executive Summary Essay

Abstract There is increase in popularity and use of the Internet for research purposes by schools and students. Popular among the web-based information resource is the Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that uses wiki software for the creation and editing of contents on its site. The use of Wikipedia for research has increased over the years. It is the world’s acclaimed 6th most visited website (â€Å"Most Popular Websites on the Internet†, 2012) . This status is not without its own challenges. The main one being that of credibility. An online encyclopedia that allows anyone to edit its entries to some, limits its validity. This paper attempts to look at some of the reasons its credibility is in question. Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia. It uses a collaborative software known as wiki to facilitate the creation, development, and editing of entries by contributors who do so without pay. It is available in 285 languages with about 100,000 regularly active contributors. Once connected to the web users can write and edit articles on the site. Wikipedia has gained much popularity particularly because of its rich information and full accessibility of data. However, owing to its open-source management style that allows anybody to change contents, there has been a growing concern about Wikipedia’s credibility as a source of information for academic work. Wikipedia was founded as an offshoot of Nupedia, a now-abandoned project to produce a free encyclopedia. Nupedia had an elaborate system of peer review and required highly qualified contributors but the writing of articles was slow. During 2000, Jimmy Wales, founder of Nupedia, and Larry Sanger whom Wales had employed to work on the project, discussed ways of supplementing Nupedia with a more open, complementary project. Multiple sources suggested that a wiki might allow members of the public to contribute material, and Nupedia’s first wiki went online on January 10, 2001. There was considerable resistance by Nupedia’s editors and reviewers to the idea of associating Nupedia with a website in the wiki format, so Sanger coined the name Wikipedia, which is a portmanteau of wiki (a type of collaborative website, from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning â€Å"quick†) and encyclopedia. Wikipedia was launched on its own domain, wikipedia.com, on January 15. In May 2001, a wave of non-English Wikipedia was launched. (Wikipedia, 2012). Supporters of Wikipedia believe contents are verified for accuracy, and monitored for consistency and currency. Nevertheless, at the rate contents are created and edited – about three million in 2008 and presently 21 million – accuracy cannot match the speed! Voss (2011) stated â€Å"Edit history and user contributions are auxiliary clues (to the quality of the site) but very time-consuming to review† (p.10). Even the founder of Wikipedia have expressed concern over the existence of such inconsistency and inaccuracy of contents. † Various experts (including founder Jimmy Wales and Jonathan Zittrain, Oxford University) have expressed concern over possible (intentional or unintentional) bias† (â€Å"Wikipedia†, 2012). Others contend that because Wikipedia is a huge information resource, which allows open inspection and arguments in which changes are debated, it is a useful source for scholastic work (Smooth & Crovitz, 2011). Many others argue that the errors found on Wikipedia are not uncommon to errors found in other encyclopedias. For example, In December 2005, the scientific journal Nature published the results of a study comparing the accuracy of Wikipedia and the printed Encyclopedia Britannica. The researchers found that the number of â€Å"factual errors, omissions or misleading statements† in each references work was not so different – Wikipedia contained 162, and Britannica had 123. This was not generally accepted as the makers of Britannica have since called on Nature to retract the study, which it claims is completely without merit† (Woods & Thoeny, 2007, pp. 90-92). A major issue with Wikipedia is that of source authenticity. Since people are free to create contents from sources at their disposal, some articles may contain unverified and inconsistent information. Sources are not properly cited. Most materials do not meet the criteria of a good source among which are currency of information, impartiality, and evaluating credentials of authors.. This explains why contents are continually edited. Ray and Graeff (2008), historical scholarship is also characterized by possessive individualism. Good professional practice requires that ideas and words are attributed to specific historians. A historic work without owners and with multiple authors like Wikipedia, is thus almost unimaginable in our professional culture. Using Wikipedia saves time owing to its versatility and large information base, some have argued. This is because contributors are more interested in flooding the site with information than painstakingly digging deep to ensure quality of contents. Topics in Wikipedia are sometimes treated superficially with the aim of transferring a general and simple understanding across to users. When such an article is cited in a professional research work, it automatically renders the work incomplete, inaccurate, and misleading. Readers do not need to be scholars to read between the lines on Wikipedia. Content is not exactly expert knowledge, it is common knowledge. For example, an article on nuclear reactor will not be anything different from what most people know about nuclear reactors and what the authors think common people can understand (Keen, 2008). One of the five pillars, which guide Wikipedia’s operations is that Wikipedia is free content that anyone can edit, use, modify or distribute. The idea of inviting readers to serve as authors or editors poses a problem. Not all users are thorough in providing accurate information, and they are others who deliberately mutilate particular articles or post misleading statements. Sometimes, information is posted or edited by people who have little or inadequate knowledge of the subject, and as the adage goes, little knowledge is dangerous. Wikipedia has no way in evaluating the credentials of content authors as it is free for all. Even though these content are edited, one can never be sure how many errors have been corrected. According to Voss (2004), as more people read about an article, the more errors are emended some might say. However, one can hardly be sure how many qualified people have read an article and how many errors remain. Edit wars sometimes occur in Wikipedia. Edit wars occur when two contributors (or group of contributors) repeatedly edit each other’s work based on a particular bias. Using such a content makes the research work the ‘casualty’ of such ‘wars’. In early 2004, Wikipedia set up an Arbitration Committee to settle such disputes (Woods & Thoeny, 2007). Conclusion Wikipedia describes itself as, â€Å"the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.† As discussed earlier, the site runs on â€Å"democratic† principles allowing anyone to contribute, create, edit, and distribute contents freely. Free and open access has outlined above, have serious consequences as it exposes texts to vandalism and inconsistency. Wikipedia’s contents are edited based on individuals perceived opinion or knowledge, unlike other online resources like the Oxford English Dictionary for example, which was developed by a carefully selected team of experienced professionals. By compromising traditional concept of authorship, Wikipedia affects associated issues of authority, originality, and value. When a source’s authority and accuracy is in question then the credibility is not guaranteed. Frankly, a site like Wikipedia that allows anyone to add, change, or remove information cannot be credible. References Spatt, B. (2011). Writing from sources (8th ed.). Bedford St. Martin Publishing. Ray, A. and Graeff, E. (2008). Reviewing the Author-Function in the Age of Wikipedia Woods, D. and Thoeny, P. (2007). Wikis for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ, Wiley Publishing, Inc. Smoot W.S. and Crovitz D. (2009). Wikipedia: Friend, Not Foe,† in English Journal 98.3 Keen, A. (2008). The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture. Bantam Dell Publishing Group Voss J. (2004). Measuring Wikipedia http:/www.wikipedia.org http:/www.mostpopularwebsites.net