Wikipedia definitely gets a bad rap. Even the popular media has spent some time and energy making fun of the user interactive website. Still, semester after semester, I have students tell me how much they love it -- even my thesis advisor told me the other day how useful she finds the website for certain things. Sooooo, I'm not going to tell you what I think of Wikipedia. I want you to tell ME what YOU think of Wikipedia.
Post your comments on using Wikipedia as a research tool. What is its place in the research process? Does it even have a place at all? Why does it get such a bad rap? Do you use wikipedia. Comments are due by June 23rd by class time. I'll give a well-developed comment 5 points. If you include at least one strong piece of evidence (by strong, I mean you should include a link or some other source citation), I'll give you 10 points.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Is Wikipedia Really So Bad. . . ? (Morning)
Labels: Morning, Quizzes
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9 comments:
Comment about Wikipedia.
Jeffrey Glenn
Many of us were warned by teachers at Crowder about the use of Wikipedia and its content. They also informed us about their preferences in the use of it or not. I felt the forewarning was fair so I do not have any qualms about its use. There have been some articles concerning the reliability of the content and how it can be misleading to the person unaware of its validity, but after several searches on different subjects and comparing it to other sources, I feel it is just as informative as the other sources. I personally think it is a good site to start the searches with, and the citations and source section are helpful with other possible alternative sources. A person could say Wikipedia is a good launch platform to use appropriately.
I researched many web sites and articles to have a clear perspective as to what the controversy is with the use of Wikipedia. I personally believe the angst has more to do with the fact that it is going to possibly be a site filled with knowledge available to every human being in the world, and in every language, as long as they have access to the internet. It is also free!
I pasted the following info:
Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, spoke about this issue at the Common Wealth Club in San Francisco recently (July 2007). There is a write up of what he said at www.thebayareaintellect.com.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/26/wiki
• Complaining about Wikipedia
• Posted by Geoffrey H. Chambers , Technical Writer at Privately-held Corporation on April 27, 2009 at 6:00pm EDT
• How many college professors encourage their students to use encyclopedias in their papers? I know mine didn't, and I'm fairly certain that those who are now complaining about Wikipedia don't either. Why, then, are so many academes up in arms over Wikipedia? I, for one, use it dozens of times a week: to look up an actor's name, to learn the difference between a zither and a lyre, or to get the gist of what Marx meant by dialectic materialism. If I'm sufficiently interested, I'll follow up on the references cited, and unlike the old days, where a footnote pointed you to some obscure work that isn't available anywhere, the references in Wikipedia will often take me right to the source. What is there to complain about that?
As I see it, the real villains here are America's institutions and perhaps American society as a whole, because the central issue, quite seriously, is the lack of emphasis on critical thinking. For example, if people could think critically, who would there be to buy the bulk of America's products? Who would use credit cards or opt for pie-in-the-sky mortgages? Who would vote Democrat or Republican? Who would watch Fox News or American Idol? And who would sit in small poorly ventilated rooms for hours on end listening to uninspiring lecturers? Given all that, I'd say it's not in the interest of our society to promote critical thinking. But if the academes berating Wikipedia were really sincere about teaching something worthwhile, I'd suggest they spend more time teaching students how to use Wikipedia and other Internet sources, because that's where students are already getting most of their information, Better they should be getting the most out of it.
I have found Wikipedia to be very useful for all different sorts of reasons. Not only just for research for college courses but in everyday life. I watched a movie once and couldn't place one of the supporting actors so I put in the name of the movie into wikipedia and got the list of characters and the actors that played that role and found my answers. I have also used Wikipedia to answer questions of my children such as does lightning really come from the ground. The answer yes but it can also generate from the sky and clouds. There are so many uses for Wikipedia than what meets the eye.
Zoey Harrell
I have used wikipedia several time while doing research for school projects. I personally think that it is not the best info and is secondary. However, it is a good place to start reserch as there is always a wide variety of information. There is some very good information, however there is also alot of information that does not pertain to what you were searching, or even individual opinions. After reading a few articles wether or not wikipedia is a reliable source the majoirty of people believe that it is a good reliable source. One such article i read compared wikipedia to be as accurate as the Britannica.
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1038_3-5997332.html
Lauren Channel
I believe Wikipedia can play a role in research. It is not info you would want to cite in a paper or a speech due to the web site being able to be changed. It can be a very good starting point. If you are not sure of an idea you can get on there and type things in and find some really intresting info. Once you have found out what you want to do research then you can go and look for info that can be cited. You might even be able to find a fun litte fact or info that you can throw in your speech to make it fun...just make sure not to cite it...! -Melissa Ferraiz-
Great posts, everybody!!
Particularly love the quotation Jeff quoted -- the source poses a very strong argument!
I use Wikipedia all the time for certain things of course not everything. In school i was always told to never use it because people could change information whenever and however. Since people and post what they want i think its better because you get more that just straight out facts more like some real life experiences for things such as looking up a famous actor. For more advance research such as English papers i think its something good to have if you need extra information that aren't just facts, for example if you have nothing else to say for your previous cites you can go to Wikipedia and find out fun little facts that make your paper more interesting.
-Claudia De Santiago-
I personally like to use wikipedia when looking up useful information or random facts. As far as a reliable resource to be used in formal situations, it is inappropriate and unreliable. Yes it does have a great deal of information in one simple place. Thats exactly it, everybody argues in favor of it because of the convience it provides. That is what our society has come to. I mean think about it...
My great-grandpa used to tell me(and I still live by it) that anything that is easy, probably is NOT worth using.
I have a personal example as to why not to use wikipedia for anything other than common knowledge.
My english teacher in high school did and experiment as to how unreliable wikipedia was. He created a wiki article for our track coach since he had led us to state final every year since being at our school. Wikipedia accepted it, then he went back a couple weeks later and changed everything to make it as innappropriate as possible. The article lasted, because my teacher lied and said that he was a primary source to our coach.
It is rediculous that someone would argue that it is an actual acceptable source for a formal document.
-Allison Archer-
A great argument from people at a university. College students, like US!
http://studentweb.stcloudstate.edu/hasa0704/IM260_Paper.html
Ashley Cochran.
I don't think that Wikapedia is all bad, nor that it is all good. I believe that it can be a useful research tool, but only if you are smart and reponsible by backing up your sources. Sometimes I like to begin by looking at Wikapedia, just so that I can find a place to start, or get ideas or information to look for. Even though I like to look at it in the begining I don't use it for one of my sources, but instead I try to find the information, even if it was correct, in a more credible source.
Brittany waggoner
doin this for quiz points
http://sallybishai.wordpress.com/2005/12/12/wikipedia-credible-source/
i have found that wikipedia is not really a reliable source when it comes to researching important subjects. I choose not to use this site after seeing how easy it is to change the information on it. Also my teachers since elementary school have steered us away from using it since people hack into it all the time. i just dont feel that the information they give you is adequate or worth peoples time of looking at it.
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