Is Wikipedia better then Encyclopedia ...

I don't think you can tell that one encyclopedia is strictly better than another. All encyclopedias have good points, and bad points.

I'm a strong supporte rof Wikipedia, so here are the advantages I see:

- it's free

- it's always available (from a mobile phone, for example)

- some of the articles are excellent (ex: P vs NP problems)

- it is almost always updated within the hour

- it exists in several different langiages, so you can surf from the french page to the english one, and have a different pt of view

Now, the bad points:

- it contains too much worthless info

- the different languages versions are not at the same level: the english flabour is the best one

- sometimes, the info can be manipulated. usually, this happens on controversial topics.

Wikipedia has many more entries than does Britannica, and I nearly always use it when researching.

Still, Wikipedia is written by volunteers, not all of whom know what they're talking about. The open editing that Wikipedia offers does tend to ensure that incorrect information is recognised and straightened out, but you should always take a Wiki answer with a grain of salt and see if other sources agree with it.

To answer your question briefly, Britannica is more reliable, but Wikipedia offers a wider range of information and helps you to locate other sources better than Britannica does. Do like I do, and use both! 

 Vicopedia  is not bad, but as there are many editors and in fact evrey one can add or rewrite one has to be  very careful while on Britanica one can rely.

Wikipedia is overhyped IMO. The fact than anyone can edit an entry in wikipedia opens the door for so many mistakes, deliberate or not, that I simply can't trust it. I prefer an encyclopedia edited by pros.

Hi,

There is alot of disscussion about the advantages of either encyclopedias - actually this discussion also has alot to do with the quality of the answers in this site!

Many - deciding which encyclopedia is better is a matter of taste - but this specific question has been written about in the top science journe - Nature - http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/full/438900a.html. Apparently the wikepedia comes very close to Britannica in accuracy.

I think that this is a great compliment for wikipedia and democracy of knowledge on the web.