Wikipedia-love or hate?

[Beeblebrox237]

Do you like Wikipedia or regard it as a credible source? I love it and think it is a terrific resource.

 

[mattythedog]

Ah Wikipedia. The amount of times its helped me with my homework.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Ah Wikipedia. The amount of times its helped me with my homework.

Me too...

 

[Frostyboys]

I love it, but all the teachers in the school talk about it as it's a terrible source and how everyone who edits it is wrong. I see it in the other students, who get mad when I say wikipedia. As for me, I use it for everything

 

[GregTheStig]

My teachers and professors have always told me to not use Wikipedia, but so far it hasn't led my astray once. Besides, they have sources at the bottom so that can at least help you.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

It's interesting, because most of my teachers hate it, but a few like it. I use it anyway.

 

[Frostyboys]

My teachers and professors have always told me to not use Wikipedia, but so far it hasn't led my astray once. Besides, they have sources at the bottom so that can at least help you.

I try telling everyone that, but no one listens

 

[GregTheStig]

I try telling everyone that, but no one listens

With every major research assignment I always start on Wikipedia and go through those sources. Some of the links expire but most are still good. On my last paper about the war on drugs it helped me immensely in finding government documents I couldn't find on my own.

 

[Famine]

Wikipedia right now is a terrible source - as information on there right now could be erroneously entered. Wikipedia a few times in succession is fine as a starting point (that allows you to verify the information) but you should always refer to their sources rather than use it as the source.

 

[Celicaas]

Love it here verrry



on the other hand our teachers recommend it

 

[lbsf1]

Really useful if you need to find out quick information on something, however if the information is for something important (work, college project) then its worth double checking it.

I think it is great what they have been able to do in collating such a large amount of info, however such a large amount of info means that there will be faults and you just need to realise that.

 

[C-ZETA]

I tend to use it very frequently, but the quality of articles can vary wildly depending on what I'm looking. Sometimes it's too confusing, sometimes there isn't enough but sometimes there is enough. Either way it is a good site I do use a lot.

 

[CMvan46]

Wikipedia right now is a terrible source - as information on there right now could be erroneously entered. Wikipedia a few times in succession is fine as a starting point (that allows you to verify the information) but you should always refer to their sources rather than use it as the source.

My feelings exactly. I'm not even allowed to use it as a source anymore, peer reviewed journal articles only, but for a starting point it's awesome to get you going in the right direction with your research. When I start research papers I always start with a basic easy google search which usually leads me to wikipedia and I get some background on what I should be searching for in the journal databases. Journal databases are brutal for finding useful articles when you don't exactly know what your looking for.

 

[dhandeh]

It's tabloid-esque for me. I will read it, but when I was doing college and uni work, it was merely a portal to other more credible areas or to merely check. I would never consider any information worthy of direct referencing.

 

[Omnis]

It's not a source, it's a convenient directory.

 

[Luminis]

I like it. I'll make sure to double check any vital information, though. That said, a lot of my teachers back then admitted to disliking it because it made things too easy for the students, not because of the actual content.

 

[cullenand]

I love it for quick facts or for homework, but for something serious like a research paper then Id rather not use it.

 

[axletramp]

As a quick reference it works well, particularly the history pages which I use the most. But if I need to conduct any in-depth research then I'll look elsewhere or go all 'analogue' and visit a library. I like to think of Wiki as a guide or pointer rather than anything 100% concrete.

 

[Ross]

My teacher types in the first few lines of our work into google and if he see's anything like what our work is he tells us to do it again.

 

[axletramp]

Too right, you cheating little...

We actually do the same thing for our CEO when he writes a press release.

 

[TankAss95]

I like it for quick reference. I hardly use it though, I get most of my information from books instead. Very inconvenient I know, I am rubbish at operating a search engine.
So mods, have mercy upon me and my creation of new threads!

 

[Driving Park]

I love it, I have used it for many different things and it has always helped a lot. And I'm not talking about homework, I almost never used it for schoolwork because of the teachers who say it's not a credible source. Of course, you could always go to Uncyclopedia...

 

[PeterJB]

I use it quite a lot. People complain about everthing on it being made up, but most of the critical information has been sourced. As Omnis said, it's a convenient directory, and one that summarises information from many different sources at once, in a very formal, unbiased manner.

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

Peers tell me that ikipedia is horrible, and teachers won't even listen to me when I try tellingthem about how good Wikipedia actually is. I call them narrow minded.

 

[Slash]

I use Wikipedia as a basic source of information, with more reliable sources in their sources. If you post BS on their, it usually gets edited out. It is also pretty accurate as well.

 

[PeterJB]

People are skeptical of it because they are aware that anyone can contribute to the articles, and a fair few don't really do what I would consider contributing. But it is amazing how quickly somebody notices and corrects it when you do.

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

Yep, I remember when I wrote about the green Party leader how she was infected by a Rabbit disease that makes her looks like one. 5 minutes later, its gone.

 

[niky]

Some articles don't get cleaned up for a long time. There are many automotive articles that are lifted straight from brochures, and much of the data about Mazdas is not as accurate as what's on other Mazda-related sites.

It's a good guide, but it pays to go to specialist sites and it pays even more to hit the books. Research assignments are about... well... research. They're about looking for things and finding them on your own. Not going to a single website and having it catalogue sources for you to look up.

And when you look up those sources, you start to realize how limited they are... so you've actually got to dig deeper.

I once did a research project where I had to pull out a 1950's or 1960's anthropological text out of a public library, written by some American explorer who'd worked with remote tribes in the area. Let me tell you, there's nothing like the smell of an old book while working on projects.

 

[rocko100]

I edit it frequently. It is all false
/hopeless idiot

 

[boomee]

no I do not believe wikipedia is a credible source