the buzz log

A 24-year-old Kentuckian posing as a distinguished professor of religion has littered Wikipedia with "disinformation." In response, the online encyclopedia announced it would begin checking the qualifications of "experts" contributing to the site. From the reaction in some news stories and blog posts, you might have thought that the collaboratively built resource had met its Watergate. Good-bye, credibility. Hello, Britannica.

However, the site's massive readership isn't going anywhere. Unperturbed by the controversy, buzz on "wikipedia" remains steadfastly lodged in our top 25 searches overall—and when we say "overall" we mean over all queries at all moments across the entire breadth of Search. When it comes to buzz, this info-juggernaut is an unstoppable force.

So, let the Wiki-bouncers check I.D.s and monitor for nefarious kids posing as wise old men. The bulk of Wikipedia's readers continue to seek its posts on an array of topics. Here are this week's top 20 most sought-out entries...