When writing “smarter” isn’t what’s needed

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Recently I read a post on Lifehacker about the Simple English Wikipedia where they “use easy words and shorter sentences”.

My friend Marion was discussing an idea at COSL to develop a system that would automatically adjust the reading level of Wikipedia entries from what can be as high as post-graduate level.

Marion posited a system that would automatically adjust the reading level for the audience. Currently the Simple English Wikipedia has 59,000+ articles versus 2,890,000+ articles in the main English Wikipedia (or 2%).

The introduction to the Wikipedia article on President George Washington rates a 23 on the Gunning-Fog index – which puts the text on a post-graduate level. Although you could argue that the quality or the article is high, it is not useful for 4th graders.

— Marion Jensen

Maybe someone should work on it. Any takers?

Update: Marion reminds me that another colleague, Joel, got a start at programming this. But that project’s also been shleved for awhile. Once again, any takers?[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]