Wikipedia, a website that we have all used at some point. I would use lyrics to look up information for papers, to check out new movies, and I would also use it to learn song lyrics. However, since anyone can edit this website, it is a source that needs to be "backed up". I think that it is a great way to start research or just look up some quick facts. But when one is writing a paper, one should use additional sources.
One time when I was researching Queen Elizabeth, I checked out Wikipedia and it said that she was a French Queen. So again, be careful when reading this site. For me, Wikipedia does not count as a source, I think its purpose is to give you background. From reading this website one can figure out what one needs to look up.
Tell me what you think.
While Wikipedia isn't always the best source when looking up information for a research paper or any other type of paper, it does provide numerous external sources for one to look at. Normally, at the bottom of a Wikipedia page, there are several links to sites outside of Wikipedia that are very reliable such as the New York Times or CNN. I have found Wikipedia to be a helpful tool when searching for sources online about a topic. However, it's not guaranteed that the sources placed on the page are reliable. But it is a nice place to find sites most of the time.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, I was trying to prove to my English teacher that our class should be able to use Wikipedia as a secondary source for a research project. As an example, I brought up the Wikipedia page for the then-president, George W. Bush. The first line of the article?
ReplyDelete"George W. Bush is a monkey."
Wikipedia does not count as a secondary source.
And I agree with Jonathan. It's a useful tool for finding various other sites, most of which are credible.
I am not entirely sure he wasn't a monkey.
ReplyDeleteNothing agianst him, just, all the hand gestures and facal expressions the press always seemed to snap photos of.
Wikipedia is a good sie to find other sites.
It seems easier then trying to use Lexis/Nexis what does everyone think of that? It seemed like a complex version of any other search engine.
I have als been using Citation Machine for ages and I strongly recommend it.
First and foremost, I love wikipedia. I use it to get background on things from existentialism to racial demographics of the city of Chicago. The silliness that gets inserted by people could be weeded out by any knowledgeable person. For example, "George W. Bush is a monkey;" clearly he isn't. Its just a matter of whether the person who has the smarts can weed out whats factual and whats not.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I never use Wikipedia. My teachers have always told me that we are not allowed to use it as a source, because it is difficult to determine whether what you are reading is true or false. I feel that if you cannot count it as a source, why bother looking at it at all. It may be easy to look at it for quick facts, but it is just as easy to look at a reliable source for those facts. What's the point in looking at Wikipedia if you have to go and check to make sure the information you looked up is correct? It seems to me it is easier to just skip using Wikipedia all together, and to use a different source.
ReplyDeleteGreat comments guys. I think that we should just use Wikipedia to get background information.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree. Wikipedia is edited by many intelligent contributors who spend countless hours verifying the facts that they add to the trusted site. When beginning a research paper Wikipedia is an excellent place to start to pick up general information on the topic to be studied. Just because a few people ruin it for everyone else does not mean that Wikipedia's accuracy should not be entirely discounted.
ReplyDeleteUntil next time,
ROCK ON!