Wikipedia has been the topic of much discussion in the office recently and it was interesting for me to see it as the centre of discussion on another mailing list that I am a member of. Essentially, someone had asked for comments/information about Wikipedia’s editorial policy and this led to some quite active discussion. Ultimately, a head of a faculty in a University stated that he automatically failed students if they quoted Wikipedia in an assignment. This person believed that Wikipedia is not a credible source and to back that claim, referred to a blog and an ‘anti’ Wikipedia site. I am not sure what makes either of those two sources more credible (in that person’s view) than Wikipedia but what makes an information source credible?
Even the most ‘revered’ information sources from traditional media have made the occasional mistake, or written something which was eventually disproven. As one of the responders to this particular email pointed out, “all sources are to this or that extent credible or otherwise. The trick is knowing how to evaluate sources as to their credibility. Learning how to do that is part of being a student. Helping students learn how to do that is part of being a teacher. Simplistic rules like “don’t use Wikipedia” sell everyone short.”
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I have heard so many people, including academics, say that Wikipedia is their first port of call for information. This is certainly the case for me. I think most would agree that it has become a valuable research tool.
I notice that Wikipedia itself cautions users against citing it, or any other encyclopedia, in an academic research paper (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Academic_use). It makes sense to use a more credible source where it exists and a good thing about Wikipedia is it is usually well referenced. However, for new and emerging phenomenon, something as dynamic as Wikipedia may contain the most reliable information available. It can’t be too long before it will be recognized for this.
I disagree. There are some very talented people who post to wikipedia and their word can be taken. Granted there are others trying to cash in on the craze but if you look carefully and research the author you will find some gems in there.
Hi Terry,
Personally I think that Wikipedia is a very valuable resource. The main point of my commentary was to highlight that there are at least some educators who ban it as an information source outright for their students. A better approach may be to teach students how to evaluate the credibility of information that they use.
Cheers,
Jerry.
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