I was searching for content online today and found a reference to “Googlepedia”.
I have always like using wikipedia because of it’s open-source nature. I personally find it reassuring and comforting to know that wikipedia is the culmination of many peoples effort and contribution.I have also spent time instructing my previous class about the nature of wikipedia, it’s structure, how it can be used with confidence in the classroom as a powerful reasearch tool. I did this after hearing Alan November discuss and show best practice examples of wikipedia use during his seminar at the TLt Summit in Saskatoon 2008.
I had never heard of “Googlepedia”. So I googled the term and found a page hosted by mozilla.org where I could update my Firefox browser with the “Googlepedia” add-on. See for yourself here.
I took a chance updating my browser even though the description of the add-on didn’t really explain how it would enhance my browser.
Here is a screen shot of my updated Firefox browser with Googlepedia added.( I swear this is a forced search. I don’t spend my time researching and thinking about crepes 
)
So far, I really like this add-on because it simultaneously performs two searches: 1) a google search and 2) a wikipedia related article search. This browser function can be hidden or enhanced depending on what it is I am searching for. Now in most cases wikipedia articles are listed if not first then in the first few hits when I search using google because of the way google searches for content. What this allows me to do however is to have a power read of the wikipedia article (should I care to) while looking for alternate online resources.
How powerful would this add-on be for students to further empower them when they are using online resources for research?
I recommend this Firefox add-on to you and would love to read your thoughts.
