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December 14, 2005
Should we use tools like Wikipedia when looking for information?
The Wikipedia is an online collaborative encyclopedia which allows anyone with Internet access to create or modify an entry. It has been assailed by critics lately, after an anonymous user posted false information in an entry for journalist John Seigenthaler during May 2005. The poster has since come forward to accept blame and apologize. The factual errors introduced into the article included this inflammatory statement.
John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General Robert Kennedy in the early 1960's. For a brief time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both John, and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven.
The inaccurate information regarding Mr. Seigenthaler remained on Wikipedia for four months until a friend notified him of the entry. He was understandably outraged. It has since been completely expunged from the public version of Wikipedia. Interstingly, there is a Wikipedia encyclopedia entry on the debacle. For more information, see the USA Today story entitled It’s online, but is it true?
Should we use Wikipedia?
One thing is for sure. If reliability of information is of any importance (e.g., for use in a school paper), Wikipedia should never be used as your only source. Instead, you should seek more authoritative options, like books or Web sites hosted by educational or governmental institutions (the .edu and .gov Internet domains). Much of the criticism of Wikipedia is justified. Because articles are not fact-checked before they are submitted, any given entry might be replete with errors.
If convenience and currency of information is more important than accuracy, Wikipedia can be a valuable resource. For example, if you’ve planned a trip to the zoo with your eight-year-old and you want to impress him with water buffalo trivia, you may consider using Wikipedia as a good place to start.
Also, if you know very little of the terminology of a topic, it may be hard to construct an effective Internet search. Wikipedia can offer a broad overview, including key terms. For example, if you want to know more about quantum mechanics, you can use the Wikipedia entry to discover the names of concepts like the uncertainty principle and wave-particle duality. These are great Internet search phrases which should allow you to locate authoritative sources of information.
The lack of a traditional editorial function at Wikipedia also allows content to be very current. For example, Stanley “Tookie” Williams III, founder of the Crips gang, was executed in California by lethal injection on December 13, 2005. The Wikipedia entry for Mr. Williams already reflected his execution later that same day. This information will take months to make it into a print encyclopedia.
The bottom line is this: don’t be afraid to try Wikipedia, but make sure to use other sources to validate your information if accuracy is important.
[mbo]
Posted by hinsdalereference at December 14, 2005 10:13 AM