Pros and Cons of the Use of Wikipedia and Wikileaks - Research Paper Example

Wikipedia is an extremely informative and useful online encyclopedia and is researchers’ number one choice, be they from any field. It is trusted for the validity of information because the information provided is supported with references. However, Wikipedia often provides users with Stub Articles that lack important information (Hamilton). Likewise, Wikileaks is a very important source of information that has for the most part of history, remained hidden. It particularly discusses political issues and reveals the underlying issues behind political upsets. However, Wikileaks has caused great loss to many politicians as their secrets have been publicized.

How can Wikis be applied to the field of emergency management?

Wikis are quite applicable to emergency management. It can be estimated from the fact that “With an already established Wiki people could go to the Wiki and fill out a simple online form, geo-code the location of the damage, add a photo and have it populate a map” (Holdeman 19).

Communication technologies applicable in the Prevention phase of Emergency Management:

Remote Sensing and GIS:

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a very useful technology in the prevention phase of emergency management. Prevention of a disaster requires the prediction of the possibility of the disasters through the realization of upsets and imbalances in the natural phenomena. Identification and location of the problem is fundamental to the prevention of a disaster. GIS helps in the achievement of this objective. The use of GIS enables the emergency management team to locate the trends of hazards and commence the evaluation of potential outcomes of the disasters. Information that is retrieved from the images captured by satellite and remote sensing is very useful in taking timely measures for preventing the disaster or more precisely, its impact on the people. Changes noticed in the satellite images of natural geography “facilitate scientists and planners in creating models that would simulate trends observed in the past, present and also assist with projections for the future” (Wattegama 17).

Satellite radio:

A satellite radio is an extremely useful communication technology in the disaster prevention phase. Its range of signals is much wider than that of the terrestrial radio and it allows its audience to keep track of single-channel irrespective of their location as long as they fall within the range of its signals (Wattegama 12). This facilitates timely conveyance of warning against disaster so that people may take protective measures.