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Niren
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#1
Old 10-29-2007, 08:11 PM

Should wikipedia be allowed in schools as a reliable source of information?
My opinion is no It should not be used as a source in papers. Anyone can change the information to what ever they want it to be and it usually doesn't have sources. Though I think that Wikipedia shouldn't be used it does have a bace for which you can find scholarly sources on the topic that you use.

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#2
Old 10-29-2007, 08:20 PM

Some of the info is accurate but....I've seen the most fake info ever there. -__-

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#3
Old 10-29-2007, 08:20 PM

...
Wikipedia is in no way a reliable source. At all. It's a marvelous way to get info about something quickly, and a jumping-off point to better sources (something that doesn't need to be cited). Other than that, Wikipedia shouldn't be used for school.

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#4
Old 10-29-2007, 08:29 PM

No cause pretty much anyone can submit information to Wikipedia. and there are entries that almost seem like joke entries on there.

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#5
Old 10-29-2007, 09:55 PM

Yes and no. Some of it is, but you should find other sites to look at that are reliable like an education site, or a government site to look at, to make sure the info is right.

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#6
Old 10-29-2007, 11:54 PM

If we cite Wiki it's an automatic 10 points off in some of my classes, and then, of course, wrong info is more off.

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#7
Old 10-29-2007, 11:58 PM

I honestly don't trust wikipedia anymore than I trust say, a prison escapee. It -can- be used as a starting point to find more sources, but as a source on its own, I doubt it. On top of that, most of my college professors will throw out your paper if you have wikipedia cited, or dock you a few points depending on how nice of a teacher you have.

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#8
Old 10-30-2007, 03:35 AM

No, it should not, as a 5 year old could log on and edit a post on quantum physics to say, "God said this are lies" and nothing else.

BUT what some people don't realize is that more often than not people put THEIR sources on wiki, so you can use those to look up and verify they are credible sources. I use wiki for that on almost every paper i write

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#9
Old 10-30-2007, 05:59 AM

Aye, as others have said before, it should likely only be used as a starting point for further sources if you're looking to do any kind of serious academic paper. Granted, I think there will come a time when perhaps, as a community, articles could be given a "Seal of Approval" or something of the sort after meeting standards, but that is far off.

While many books recently published are certainly more...legitimate, let's say...I think it's interesting to think about the fact that many books are no less biased or baseless than your average Wiki page. History has been written by the victor for quite some time, and you can certainly carry that theme for quite some time with regards to primary and secondary sources.

</rambling>

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#10
Old 10-30-2007, 06:11 AM

I think wikipedia could be used as a starting point, but as an actual source I'd say no.

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#11
Old 10-30-2007, 06:23 AM


I would never use wikipedia for school. Sure, it's fun
when you just want to know something about a band,
person, anime, etc. But I want credible sources for
school work, especially research papers.

neur0mancer
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#12
Old 10-30-2007, 11:53 PM

I believe it should.
Wikipedia has fact-checkers constantly scanning the site, as well as people who look at the pages that were most recently edited to see if the edit brings any new information to the table (or totally defaces the page)

My little brother said he edited a page, and it was back to normal in less than a minute.
It also tells you wen a citation is needed for a certain fact stated, so you don't use it because of lack of proof, and it also states references for facts that have them (which are also checked).
Wikipedia isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be. D:

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#13
Old 10-31-2007, 03:20 AM

No, I don't think wikipedia should be a reliable source...for several reasons....

1) My professors just plain don't allow it...they hate it and don't think that it's a reliable source either...so, that's good enough for me.

2) Users can EDIT the information pages...and although people are always scanning the site, they could EASILY over look something, and then you would get something wrong in a paper, on a test or assignment...

3) I honestly just think it's a stupid site, I used to use it...but after I got several facts wrong from using wikipedia...AND it wasn't just one thing that I looked up, I just stopped...I can find more credible sources else where on the web. <3

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#14
Old 10-31-2007, 05:15 AM

No, it really shouldn't. It's handy and completely amazing for those little 'Gawd, this is going to drive me crazy if I don't look it up!' type things, but it (like the rest of the internet) Isnt wholly reliable and nothing it says should be taken as 100% proven fact and therefore not used in schools.

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#15
Old 10-31-2007, 10:46 AM

I think that Wikipedia is a reliable source,
but I don't think that you should rely on it
for everything. I think that you should make
sure that the information is accurate if you
intend on using it in school work.

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#16
Old 10-31-2007, 12:58 PM

I think Wikipedia shouldn't be a reliable source.
Well, for the first reason is because alot of information I've seen on there is false.
I knew when I searched for things on Google or Ask Jeeves, its one of the first things you find when you look something up.
As well, people are allowed to change any information to whatever they basically wish.
I know my school does not allow anyone to use Wikipedia for project or anything in that matter.
My teacher said she once hadd a student who use Wikipedia as their main source for a project and they failed because it was mostly fake information.

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#17
Old 10-31-2007, 01:35 PM


I think it's more of a place to start research.
I've used it for small things and the wiki page and a page on an educational website had the same information.
So I think it's okay to use, you just need to be careful.

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#18
Old 10-31-2007, 05:47 PM

Pfft, no. It's far too easily vandalised. It makes a good starting point, and helps you to get the basics in your head, but don't reference it. They drill that into you in university, it's not worth the bother.

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#19
Old 11-01-2007, 06:11 AM

It's not reliable though...

Wiki is created by people posting their information. And some people do this when their information is wrong. There is nothing to support the information. A source should be reliable. It should be based on facts. A meauseum or published book is reliable, but Joe blogs telling you something isn't. That's all wiki is, Joe blogs telling you something.

It's a good starting point, but it is not reliable. You should use the information obtained on wiki to find reliable sources.

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#20
Old 11-02-2007, 11:44 AM

I don't thrust so much on Wiki...

I've seen some absurd topics in there with wrong concepts! I don't usually go there when I need some information.

People go there and post their information but rarely you find answers that are really true and has good arguments to prove it.

But what about the books people? Don't they help you without having doubts on what's write in there?! o.O

It's true that Internet has everything now but ... But books won't kill you you know? xD

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#21
Old 11-03-2007, 03:13 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by neur0mancer

My little brother said he edited a page, and it was back to normal in less than a minute.
Yes, but that's just one instance.

Go to a less commonly visited page, and tweak it, ever so slightly, so that it sounds like it could be right but anyone who really knows about the subject would know it's wrong. (Say, the lifespan of a certain animal being off by three years. Most people won't know it off the top of their head, but someone who's studied it before may.) It will probably take a while for it to be caught and changed back.

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#22
Old 11-09-2007, 12:10 AM

My English professor does not accept Wikipedia as a valid source for papers. At one point, she asked why, and just about everyone knew.

Wikipedia is vandalized too frequently to be usable as a decent reference for just about anything. While it's good for looking up useless little facts, or surfing for fun, or finding tiny little facts that can be considered "common knowledge," anything using Wikipedia as a source won't hold much ground.

Someone once replaced the entire article on humans with "BOYS HAVE TEH PEN0RZ, GIRLS HAVE TEH VAJAYJAY." The article on Harry Potter has been replaced with "Snape kills Dumbledore! lolololol" Those are OBVIOUS acts of vandalism...but what about the smaller, more believable ones? Changing a single number, or writing a false sentence here and there...and BOOM. The page is full of lies.

Also, people will jump to conclusions about things that are, as of yet, unknown...and they will post their false conclusions, not KNOWING that it's terribly wrong. When that happens...POOF. No more credible source. Yet people might believe it.

Until Wikipedia comes up with a better system to keep false information off, it should stay out of school papers. I don't want to read another paper on ninja that's actually all about Naruto.

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#23
Old 11-09-2007, 06:20 AM

My main problem with wiki is that people are not held accountable for what they write.

I a professor writes the History of Wales and puts their name on it they can be held responsible. If the content is false it can ruin their reputation and entire career from that point on.

Wiki can be edited anonymously by someone who's twelve. If it's something that's not well know it becomes even more difficult to ascertain the truth. Someone could easily claim that King John used a seal on the Magna Carta because he was illiterate, how many people would know if that were true? It's little errors like that, that can really screw you up on a paper.

It's really nice if you just want a quick brush up. But if you're doing serious research, everything on Wiki should be taken with a grain of salt, and three other citations.

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#24
Old 11-09-2007, 10:42 AM

ok. not everything on the internet (no matter what the site) should be thought to be 100% correct. i think that when its a site like wiki its a good idear to use other sources of information like books from your local librery.

its really not a good idear to use wiki for sources on sensative isueas that are prone to debate as these are likly to be abused by people.

like the page about bush was vandalised and all the amusing quotes he has made and the pictures people have made about him were put up.

yes it was teribly amusing.... please make a site about it and stop abusing a source of information.

really what wiki should do is only have accounts that have been validated as ways that people can change the information. and even then any changes made to the site should be validated again.

it would take a long time for and changes to go through but it would make it a lot more reliable.

so yea, the main thing is just dont use wiki as the only source of your information and dont belive it over other sources of information. and remember a book is something that has to be validated and checked to see it ifs meterial is correct and its imposible for a randomer to come along and change the information in it.

(EDIT) tho thinking about it now it is a good way to get links to sites and images and books that can give you more information. so in this area its more usfull.

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#25
Old 11-09-2007, 02:01 PM

Well overall, the internet is never a realiable source. I mean my friend did a report and got most of their sources on this bogus-like site. I still use books as my only resource. They are the only ones that I can trust.

 


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