Reading#4 Can WIKIPEDIA Ever Make the Grade?

Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia on the internet that is maintained and edited by the public. Anyone can go on the Wikipedia site and edit any information relating to a topic. The academic community is fighting to try to decide if the website is reliable and where its place in the university should be. Some think that the site is a great reference and should be used as a primary resource. Others think that the accuracy of information is in question and nothing found on the site should be thought of as reliable. One professor changed 10 facts on different pages throughout Wikipedia database to see if anyone would know to correct them. Within four hours all the facts were deleted and changed back to the correct information. This proved that Wikipedia did a relatively good job of editing itself and providing good information. Other examples, like a man who was said to be involved in the Kennedy assassination on Wikipedia show how the site can be false. Scalars on university campuses are split on the reliability of the site and can’t decide if students should use it for research. Experts want to be able to edit the information the public writes for accuracy but not have the public edit their information. Creators of Wikipedia say having everyone be able to add facts about a subject is what makes Wikipedia so great. I think that Wikipedia is a good resource to find out fun facts or general information on a topic but probably should not be used for research papers. The information for the most part is good but there are always some examples of how the site was wrong or provided misleading information. Traditional research methods like journals and scholarly work should be reserved for research papers.