Collaboration
I’ve always wondered how Wikipedia really works because practically every professor wouldn’t let his/her students use Wikipedia as their source. I had wondered if it’s really that unreliable, until I read an article months ago stating that Wikipedia is almost as accurate as Britannica. If that’s the case why do professors wouldn’t let their students use Wikipedia?
Going back to Clark Shirky’s book, it was discussed how Wikipedia was created, and how it became the Wikipedia that we know now. I kind of figured that it wasn’t really easy considering the amount of information that Wikipedia contains. It was mentioned that even the article about asphalt had been edited so many times.
It doesn’t matter if the person writing the article is knowledgeable, knowing a little is enough. That’s what makes Wikipedia different from every thing else because just one little article that probably doesn’t mean anything to most of us, is a collection of data probably created by a nobody who had collaborated with hundreds of people to make it successful. It’s amazing what people can do when they work together.
3 responses so far
I think it’s amazing how many people actually edit and article, it makes me feel as though the information is very legitimate because so many people are able to change it and put corrections in for things that are wrong. Though, I am still hesitant with the information i get from Wikipedia, I guess it’s because my professors scared me when they said not to use it, but I also double check and look at an alternative source to make sure the points match up.
Using Wikipedia for a academic purpose is just like a patient google his/her ill condition before she/he visit a doctor. Because every one can edit something on the Wikipedia and there’re many Controversial information that might not certified by the professional. That’s why professor wouldn’t like their students use it for studying. However, it is a good tool for self study and get information for anything you are interested in.
I can kind of understand why professors don’t consider Wikipedia a reliable source to cite from because the “expert” sources aren’t really credited (though you could find all the links to the article that was quoted on the reference section) and some infomation can be false.
Wikipedia is quite interesting for research for yourself. I love that it just feels like based on Shirky… everyone that wants to play a part, can play a part when it comes to Wikipedia.