A test version of "Citizendium" to be launched this week in Harmon, California will use experienced editors and subject authorities to tune information submitted by web surfers.
"Wikipedia has accomplished great things, but the world can do even better," said Larry Sanger, the Wikipedia founder who is spearheading the Citizendium "free knowledge project.
"
"By engaging expert editors, eliminating anonymous contribution, and launching a more mature community under a new charter, a much broader and more influential group of people and institutions will be able to improve upon Wikipedia's extremely useful, but often uneven work."
Wikipedia was created in 2001 as a website where users could freely contribute, edit and refine entries.
It relied on the principle that people who knew better would correct factual errors introduced by others.
The website was based on "wiki" technology that lets visitors change text as they please.
The name "wiki" came from a Hawaiian word meaning quick.
W