Using Wikipedia as a starting point
‘The free encyclopedia [sic] that anyone can edit.’ (Wikipedia, 2009)
Wikipedia can be an excellent starting point for research. However, unlike traditional encyclopaedias anyone can add information on any topic, even you! It may not necessarily be authoritative or accurate. In some cases information may be completely untrue.
You must always check the facts in a wiki article
■ check the reference list for the article.
■ carry out further research to find the referenced articles.
■ use the history and discussion pages accompanying an entry to help evaluate whether you can trust the information.
■ you can find a pre-checked Wikipedia collection of 5,500 articles targeted around the national curriculum at http://schools-wikipedia.org.
■ never use Wikipedia as your only source.
which I think is fair enough, apart from the "[sic]" which implies criticism of the use of American spelling on a US-based website and may confuse some students. (As an aside, I was also somewhat amused by the unintended ambiguity of the statement "anyone can add information on any topic, even you!") The document also offers this advice on using the internet in general for research:
Points to remember
■ anyone can publish online
■ sources may be untrue
■ sources may be inaccurate
■ always check the relevance
■ always check the reliability
■ be critical of all content.
Ask your teacher or school librarian for help if you’re not sure.
As for Joseph Farah's article in which he apparently holds Jimmy Wales personally responsible for all vandalism, defamation and incivility on Wikipedia, I'm sorry I wasted minutes of my life reading it, but I have to admit I did laugh at his spectacular non-sequitur when he decided to take the opportunity to criticise Wikipedia's non-censorship of sexually explicit images. Contains Mild Peril (talk) 15:41, 12 January 2010 (UTC)
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