The Wikipedia Fact Check Thread!

[Rob Lightbody]

Well can you see any errors or obvious omissions?  If so, lets get it sorted!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QE2

[Twynkle]

24th February 1978 - Maiden call to Sydney
31 years ago today!

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Well can you see any errors or obvious omissions?  If so, lets get it sorted!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QE2

Just a quick first reaction : This article has grown and changed hugely over the past two months! I can see at least one familiar name among the recent editors... 

Shall take it with me, on my next shore excursion this week-end, when I shall be sitting around computerless here and there, and shall enjoy the good read!

[Kindlychap]

The date given for when she became the longest serving Cunarder is wrong. September 4th, 2005, when she was at Sydney. I was on board that day. The photograph in my signature is of the same day...

I think the date and ship referred to relates to longest serving express liner.

Matthew

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Had a look at the Wikipedia article, and it looks largely correct (but I am not yet sufficiently knowledgeable to check many of the numerous facts  ). Problem is that so many hands have been involved in writing it, that it does not read all that well, and in places is not up to date. But that is not necesarily our problem!

[Rob Lightbody]

Nowhere in the Wikipedia article does it say that she's travelled further than any  other ship ever.  This doubt is beyond doubt, because of her speed and length of service.  I think it should be right at the top, in the introduction piece, in paragraph 3.  Can someone more skilled in wikipedia than me make the change?  (I find it a real struggle and anything I edit gets removed immediately by the Wikipedia police).

It also has an error.  It says she travelled over 6 million miles, whereas it was just under... the exact figure was given in the last onboard daily programme.

[Stowaway2k]

As we all know, anybody can register to be a Wikipedia "editor", and add relevant information to any listings.

I don't know if it still is so much anymore, but the QE2 Wikipedia page was once the jealously guarded playground of a single individual, so goes the scuttlebutt within the QE2 community.

Entries by other persons which were within Wikipedia's conditions were almost always quickly deleted by this person, as they seemed to believe that the QE2 page belonged to them alone.

From what I understand, "turf battles" are not uncommon on Wikipedia.

As Gore Vidal once famously said...  "There's nothing true on Wikipedia" 

but that's not really true either...

[pete cain]

Dear Rob,have been searching the web & me books for info 'bout Wilki ommissions (still looking) & you know how it is ... you end up miles away from where you started & it's 1/2 hour later, however I came across The Cunard Queens the most iconic liners in the world ; on Google . Lo & behold there's a 3d artists impression of the new one, looks (to me) like a cross between a Costa & vikki, pretty boring stuff I know but it's the 1st outside view i've seen of the proposed 'icon'. in case anybody is interested, pete cain....

[Mauretania1907]

Aha, now I know why, when I tried to print out QE2 off wikipedia, I got 3 blank pages in my printout, even tho the info was on the site. Peeved me off, since I was at Uni, using their printer which is far superior to mine. Guess I'm not the only one with a collection of QE2 stuff.

[Rob Lightbody]

and never ran a weekly transatlantic express service to New York as did previous large Cunarders

What do you think that means?  She did, surely?  or do they mean she ran it more often than weekly?

[Twynkle]

Not too sure what it means!

Have you tried clicking on the top External Link - 'Official QE2 website'- 
bottom left of QE2 Wiki page?
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Queen_Elizabeth_2

Hmm.

 

[Rob Lightbody]

Do we have anyone on (the) board who is a whizz with wikipedia - e.g. editing/adding/deleting stuff ?

I would like to revise the QE2 page as I think its a mess.

[Peter Mugridge]

I know someone who has full editing privileges at wikipedia; shall I ask him to mail you, Rob?

[Chris]

Anyone can edit the Wikipedia pages, however there are some people who have more control than others.
For QE2 it seems a person by the name of "MBK004" controls most of the page. From reviewing the "discussion" and edits, it seems that user is the reason she is referred to as RMS, for example.

Chris.

[Rob Lightbody]

I would like to correct the RMS thing firstly and foremost and from then we'll just try to correct the mistakes.

'Flagship' answered the question definitively on here - she is not an RMS, and never was. He refers to original documentation that states this and explains why.

https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,1392.msg15309.html#msg15309