User:RM395/Course/Encyclopedia comparisons/Tinaface86

Rockford, Illinois: Wikipedia vs. 11th Edition Encyclopedia Britannica (1911)

I found this awesome restoration project online of the 1911 Britannica and it had an article on my hometown, where I was born and raised and lived until I was 20, so I consider myself somewhat of an expert on its modern times and history.

Differences

Right away, it's obvious that the 1911 article is much shorter and to the point, whereas the Wikipedia article goes on and on about absolutely everything you would probably never even think of asking about Rockford. The 1911 article is also not as well-written, however, and is just strictly information. The Wikipedia article obviously has everything the 1911 article has and more, it just lists it as history. The 1911 article talks strictly about the railways and where they go, and those do not come through anymore. One interesting thing is that they don't mention Camp Grant, which was an 18,000-acre training facility- one of the largest in the nation- during the Civil War. It was used for several other things after 1911, such as a POW detention center for the U.S. Army during WWII.

One interesting thing is that the 1911 article mentions how many foreigners were in the city, and that the majority of them were Swedes, which is funny because there are several extremely popular Swedish pancake houses in the city, and I never realized that is probably why. At that time as well, Rockford College was a school for women, and it was very well-respected, and now it is a coed school. There are a few monuments and landmarks mentioned, but not nearly as many as in the Wikipedia article, which is to be expected. However, the Wikipedia article also discusses the many, many economic pitfalls of Rockford, which had yet to happen at the time. Although apparently there were only two hospitals but three sanitariums in the city in 1911.

Mostly, the 1911 article contains a lot of no-nonsense information about the buildings, manufacturers, populations, and waterworks, whereas Wikipedia talks about everything you could imagine.

Conclusion

Obviously I would not be able to read the 1911 article for any current information, but I can see how Rockford appeared to the author at the time. Tinaface86 (talk) 02:58, 18 February 2013 (UTC)