Why not Wikipedia

At the outset we considered simply adding to the law entries in Wikipedia, but we decided against it, temporarily, for several reasons:

  • Wikipedia is designed to be a fairly closed system—tightly integrated and self-referential—and it somewhat discourages the use of external linkage. There are many valid reasons for that approach, and if we were in a different field, we would probably find them compelling. However, much of what we intend here rests on illustrations from a wide range of legal information that it would be both burdensome and unnecessary to incorporate into WEX—caselaw, statutes, and regulations used to illustrate and enhance the materials here. Thus, WEX is much more focussed on external linkage than Wikipedia.
  • Wikipedia intentionally segregates content genres (see Wikipedia is not a dictionary and Wikipedia sister projects). We intend to deliberately blur the distinction between dictionary, encyclopedia, and guidebook in ways that Wikipedia would find troublesome.
  • Wikipedia aspires to a global perspective (see Wikipedia: countering systemic bias. We write from an American law perspective. In time, we may offer our material to Wikipedia, or otherwise merge our efforts with theirs.

See also