Wikipedia Protests Online Piracy Bill with Blackout

It's 10:20 AM and I miss Wikipedia already. The site is blacked out today, January 18th, in protest of two bills being debated in Congress.  Other sites, including Google, Twitter, Reddit and WordPress, are also participating in the protest in various ways.

Instead of encyclopedia-like articles, visitors to Wikipedia will find a short description of its opposition to the bills, a plea to contact your representatives and a handy search tool providing contact information for those representatives.  

But never fear Search Savvy readers, it turns out that there is a way to access Wikipedia articles today. Simply push the Escape key on your keyboard during the brief seconds before the blackout message loads. Mobile users can access the site by using the Wikipedia app.

Like many researchers, I use Wikipedia as a first-stop tool to orientate myself to a new topic. I use it not as a definitive source of information, but as a useful finding tool.  In its absence, before learning of the work-around, I simply used another tool. The blackout was a minor roadblock resulting in a short delay, not a major barrier to information. Nevertheless, within a few hours of starting my day, I missed Wikipedia. I'm interested to hear how the blackout affected others and whether it was effective in encouraging you to get involved in the online piracy debate. 

Please leave your comments below.