Do you find wikipedia reliable for a source?
By Luvandpower
@luvandpower (2048)
United States
January 14, 2009 8:24am CST
I know anyone can go in and change stuff in it until it is corrected like hours later. But do you find it reliable for at that moment? My teachers forbid us for using it as a source, I agree with them, what do you think?
8 responses
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
14 Jan 09
so what i am getting the idea of is then that my professors are just evil hmm interesting.
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
20 Jan 09
yeah people are just wierd like that...if you are doing more than one reference you would think it is okay, because the information has to be the same.
@belhaven14 (454)
• United States
21 Jan 09
It is a great site for quick reference. There are normally articles on everything that you could want to look up, and they are generally reliable. However, for an academic setting it is a terrible source. I agree with your teachers that it shouldn't be used for papers. The internet is a great tool, but accuracy is much more important than convience. You are much better off using a related site in the academic or professional field which can be held accountable for their information.
1 person likes this
@belhaven14 (454)
• United States
21 Jan 09
If the links at the bottom were reliable sources, you could use them in an academic paper. I never thought about that before. Now that you say it though, Wikipedia could be a great place to find sources. I still wouldn't cite Wikipedia as a resource, but you could definitly find reliable sources from Wikipedia.
1 person likes this
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
21 Jan 09
yeah, you do have a point there, but what if you compared the links at the bottom of the wiki page with the info on the page itself?
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
27 Jan 09
yeah, my professor says I can do that also, because teh scholars put it on wilkapedia hoping that someone will go to their scholarly work.
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
14 Jan 09
I can agree to that, they are reliable, however you may want to check their links just to double check.
@Humbug25 (12540)
•
14 Jan 09
Hi there luvandpower
I think it is a shame that they allow people to do that as it could be a real problem for someone especially if it is someone relying on it to be true so they can do some sort of school asignment. I did find it helpful the other day though when I was doing a crossword for a competition and I needed to know where these two particular people were born!!
@j47lee (740)
• Canada
14 Jan 09
It is a pretty helpful website... you get alot of information.. when you're working on a school project.... but the thing is.. our professors.. forbid us to use wikipedia as a reference.... says thats not a reliable source... i guess... thats what most university profs say....
1 person likes this
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
15 Jan 09
yea unfortunately that is what they say...automatic zero if you use at my school.
@mailtoramesh (815)
• India
14 Jan 09
Ya it is a very useful site. Here we can edit things to our wish which makes it more user friendly too. It is the most reliable that you can trust...
Thanks for posting
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
14 Jan 09
even with all of those punk people who change stuff to incorrect information just for fun? and thanks for that speedy post.
@ronnyb (6113)
• Jamaica
28 Jan 09
Well so far I have found wikepdia a reliable source .Ilike th eway the page is laid out and find that it has information on most topics and it give youseveral perspectives.I didnt know that people can go in and change things in the manner you mentioned and as a result form now on Ill be more careful but I thought they said only certified people as the access to do this.
@luvandpower (2048)
• United States
28 Jan 09
they say that...but it is still open wide open for anyone to come and change.
@aldztrust (38)
• Philippines
10 Apr 09
Yes I find it reliable specially in current events since it can be updated and corrected promptly. In addition, they have full-time people working together to make the contents as accurate as possible.
