Recently I asked if anyone had a policy or guidelines for students on how to use Wikipedia that they would like to share with other teachers.
Check out this link
Some key points include:
Wikipedia "is not appropriate as the primary or sole reference for anything that is central to an argument, complex, or controversial."
Wikipedia is considered an uneven resource. Some topics are more reliable as they have been written and edited by a community of experts. Other topics are in the middle of "edit wars" meaning the topics might be controversial or so current that information is still being gathered.
"Wikipedia is a dynamic, constantly mutating resource. Even if it is appropriate to cite it as a reference, the citation is meaningless unless it includes the date on which the page was accessed." (although one commenter to the blogpost indicated that there is a way to click on a permanent link which will allow others to see the same version you did.)
Wikipedia is a powerful instrument for an introduction to a topic. However, it should not be the only source. As noted, "Wikipedia is not really (or not just) an encyclopedia of knowledge. It is better thought of as a combination of encyclopedia and "blog." It is the world's blog."
Another commenter stated,
"I think wikipedia (and more generally, the web) can be a great place to teach students how to evaluate the worth and reliability of a source—a skill that is becoming increasingly important. Telling students to stick to academic sources is to make illegitimate the wealth of information and ideas that are out there. Helping them develop evaluative criteria to enable them to select trustworthy sources would be much more effective than banning wikipedia or its ilk as sources."
Thanks to Professor George for pointing me toward this link.
Comments