Wikipedia's name gives the wrong impression, said Simon Fraser University communications professor Richard Smith. The open-source site (meaning it can be written and edited by anyone) is called an encyclopedia only for lack of a better term.

"It's socially produced knowledge. But they didn't know what they were producing when they began," Prof. Smith said, explaining that many of the volunteer editors are authorities on their subjects.

According to John Dove, CEO of xrefer , there's a Google Debate going on online, initiated by xRefer founder Adam Hodgkin. Now John's wondering about the reference experience of the future and how gaming the system affects quality of results. He thinks that socially produced information changes the modalities of discovery and makes it difficult for researchers to know where to start.

Veblen explained human behavior in terms of the evolution of cultural habits and institutions and the basic inclination of human beings to purposeful action aided by socially-produced knowledge (including myths).