I am not saying its an encyclopedia but I do feel it is a reliable source as most of the material there is good solid material.
Most could argue that anything on the internet is bad as anyone can make a webpage - but we are to shine bad light on it because wikipedia is easier to edit and gather info from?
Comment by Jeff — Tuesday, December 13, 2005 @ 11:48 am
Anybody can edit it???
Comment by Jan — Tuesday, December 13, 2005 @ 4:51 pm
Citing the web
Steven Taylor and Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey join the Wikipedia bashing.
Steven:
…it is an ongoing struggle to get my students not to cite the darn thing
For some students, getting them to cite anything would be a step forward…
All things considered, encyclopedias are a good source of definitions, but all facts should be verified in primary sources. I’d tell my students to start their research with Wiki, but verify all quotable facts in primary sources. It’s good that increasingly Wiki is providing footnoted references to primary sources in their articles. If 4 year after it’s creation it’s as good as Britannica, I wonder what it will do in the next four years?
Comment by Piotrus — Thursday, December 15, 2005 @ 7:37 am
In fact, I don’t find Britanica to be an appropriate source for a college-level research paper.
Part of the Wikipedia-specific problem is that students have gotten away from library-based research and lazily use the web, often starting with Wikipedia, which simply is not a sufficiently strong source for serious writing.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Thursday, December 15, 2005 @ 8:40 am
I am not saying its an encyclopedia but I do feel it is a reliable source as most of the material there is good solid material.
Most could argue that anything on the internet is bad as anyone can make a webpage - but we are to shine bad light on it because wikipedia is easier to edit and gather info from?
Comment by Jeff — Tuesday, December 13, 2005 @ 11:48 am
Anybody can edit it???
Comment by Jan — Tuesday, December 13, 2005 @ 4:51 pm
Citing the web
Steven Taylor and Jacqueline Mackie Paisley Passey join the Wikipedia bashing.
Steven:
…it is an ongoing struggle to get my students not to cite the darn thing
For some students, getting them to cite anything would be a step forward…
…
Trackback by blogs for industry — Tuesday, December 13, 2005 @ 9:38 pm
Wikipedia: The Faith-Based Encyclopedia?
Former Encyclopdia Britannica Editor in Chief, the Robert McHenry offers some thoughts on the recently-publicized struggles of WikiPedia:
The premise is this: By making every article open to the revisions, corrections, and updates offered by any and…
Trackback by Outside The Beltway — Wednesday, December 14, 2005 @ 2:03 pm
Do you allow Britannica to be quoted? Nature study shows there is no difference in terms of content between encyclopedias.
All things considered, encyclopedias are a good source of definitions, but all facts should be verified in primary sources. I’d tell my students to start their research with Wiki, but verify all quotable facts in primary sources. It’s good that increasingly Wiki is providing footnoted references to primary sources in their articles. If 4 year after it’s creation it’s as good as Britannica, I wonder what it will do in the next four years?
Comment by Piotrus — Thursday, December 15, 2005 @ 7:37 am
In fact, I don’t find Britanica to be an appropriate source for a college-level research paper.
Part of the Wikipedia-specific problem is that students have gotten away from library-based research and lazily use the web, often starting with Wikipedia, which simply is not a sufficiently strong source for serious writing.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Thursday, December 15, 2005 @ 8:40 am