To Wikipedia or not to Wikipedia
One of the most popular sites accessed here at school is Wikipedia. It is a great site because it is easy to use, the user interface is clean and clear and it has heaps of information on virtually any topic that you can imagine. Better than that, anyone can add to it or change what is already there. It is this very thing that is perhaps both Wikipedia's greatest strength and its greatest weakness.
Like all of you, I am still studying. I am currently doing my Masters and very much enjoying it. Last week we had to submit an assignment and today our lecturer sent us an email regarding the use of Wikipedia. He was baffled by the fact that some students had referenced Wikipedia in their assignments. To the bottom of his email he attached the following:
WIKIPEDIA WARNING
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has candidly advised college students not to use Wikipedia as a source. Speaking at a University of Pennsylvania conference called 'The Hyperlinked Society' Jimmy said he gets about 10 messages a week from students who've got into trouble for using the online encyclopedia. 'They say "Please help me. I got an F on my paper because I cited Wikipedia",' and the information proved to be incorrect.
Jimmy said he had little sympathy for such students, and thinks to himself 'For God's sake, you're in college; don't cite the encyclopedia.'
He added that the Wikipedia team has thought about producing a fact sheet for professors to students explaining what Wikipedia is and how it is not always a definitive source. 'It is pretty good, but you have to be careful with it,' said Jimmy. It's good enough knowledge, depending on what your purpose is.
admittedly you are not university students, but many of you soon will be, so it is a good idea to start getting into good habits now. Also, if you know better, why not choose to do better?
We subscribe to an online reference collection; Oxford Reference Online. It is an excellent selection of published reference books that have been put online so that schools can access all of these books without having to buy them all or replace them when new editions are printed. It is very easy to use, it has a variety of functions and provides huge amounts of information that is suitable for all students. The information is also guaranteed to have been written and edited by experts and authoritative sources.
There is more information about Wikipedia and researching on the Internet available on the 'Using the Internet' page of the virtual library. There is also a direct link to Oxford Reference. Please see the library staff if you can not remember the password or where to find it.
I would like you to share your thoughts on this topic by posting a comment.
TC
Like all of you, I am still studying. I am currently doing my Masters and very much enjoying it. Last week we had to submit an assignment and today our lecturer sent us an email regarding the use of Wikipedia. He was baffled by the fact that some students had referenced Wikipedia in their assignments. To the bottom of his email he attached the following:
WIKIPEDIA WARNING
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has candidly advised college students not to use Wikipedia as a source. Speaking at a University of Pennsylvania conference called 'The Hyperlinked Society' Jimmy said he gets about 10 messages a week from students who've got into trouble for using the online encyclopedia. 'They say "Please help me. I got an F on my paper because I cited Wikipedia",' and the information proved to be incorrect.
Jimmy said he had little sympathy for such students, and thinks to himself 'For God's sake, you're in college; don't cite the encyclopedia.'
He added that the Wikipedia team has thought about producing a fact sheet for professors to students explaining what Wikipedia is and how it is not always a definitive source. 'It is pretty good, but you have to be careful with it,' said Jimmy. It's good enough knowledge, depending on what your purpose is.
admittedly you are not university students, but many of you soon will be, so it is a good idea to start getting into good habits now. Also, if you know better, why not choose to do better?
We subscribe to an online reference collection; Oxford Reference Online. It is an excellent selection of published reference books that have been put online so that schools can access all of these books without having to buy them all or replace them when new editions are printed. It is very easy to use, it has a variety of functions and provides huge amounts of information that is suitable for all students. The information is also guaranteed to have been written and edited by experts and authoritative sources.
There is more information about Wikipedia and researching on the Internet available on the 'Using the Internet' page of the virtual library. There is also a direct link to Oxford Reference. Please see the library staff if you can not remember the password or where to find it.
I would like you to share your thoughts on this topic by posting a comment.
TC
posted by Library Blog | 2:09 pm
8 Comments:
i agree that wikipedia isnt the best site for info but for most of my projects i have used it even in english and none of my teachers have told me of or even metioned it. i think it is a stupid idea that you can add to it because some stupid person might come along wanting to have some fun by making up some total rubbish about some random subject.
i have used wikipedia a little for some assignments this year and it has come in very handy when im stuck for information
i think that wikipidea is a good site to use but i also think it has its downsides. I agree with you that letting the public change the information on the site is a no-intelligent idea. Although i use wikipedia for serious subjects or when i have to research quickly because it is easy to use and alot of the serious subjects are locked. This means that the content cannot be changed.
Wikipedia is my god, I worship it in a shrine in my basement. I have printed out all pages of wikipedia and made origami idols out of it. Lol, I jest of course, I only printed out half.
Wikipedia is very useful, contains very little bias and is one step of the ultimate malleable collective mind. Much like the overmind of the Zerg in starcraft. That is a little of a freaky comparison, although the Zerg were the ultimate creation of the Xel'Naga.
In essense, we can't let it go too far, but at the moment it makes the world a smaller place. That is also a freaky thought.
Your biggest fan
JC (this time I am Jesus, lol)
hmmm, james is not an informed citizen. That is to say, he is not fully aware of the mechanisms behind wikipedia.
he says:
"i think it is a stupid idea that you can add to it because some stupid person might come along wanting to have some fun by making up some total rubbish about some random subject."
Well, you can't do that because wikipedia has stringent policies and editors that check things people have written to make sure they are accurate. If they're not sure they put an accuracy warning on the page. If it's 'rubbish' that is written, then it's totally deleted. If there's a repeat offender who writes bad things, then they're banned. In fact, PAC's IP address is banned for that very reason lol.
i know this, cause when I put the band, monoculture on there it was deleted. Not becuase we don't exist, but because it's 'narcissistic' or something. mmmm, stringent, just like noodles. Speaking of noodles, i'm hungry and leaving now. Thankyou this blog and TC for making me spend some of my precious 4th dimensional space on this comment, which no doubt will not really acheive much. Unless of course this hub of intellectual and beneficial discussion really takes off. This wikipedia topic is very topical.
generic student, callsign Alpha
wikipedia is not subject to vandalism as there are thousands of members who check constantly for such things. Moreover, there are random checks so often it's not funny. it's a lot safer and better than given credit for.
go wikipedia.
still there are risks if you only use wikipedia, book are cool too, the state library or the school library is a way cool resource.
especially for science, go science!
very appropriate for school i concur. this site is very imformational and a great idea. a very juicy read.
yeah wikipedia is a good site, and i agree that allowing the public to modify the site is a bad idea
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