Wikipedia pleads the fifth
I discovered this article today, which talks about Middlebury College HIstory department's recent decision to disallow Wikipedia as a scholarly source in student papers. I've never had a U instructor comment on the value of Wikipedia as a source; I'm curious whether any of you have. There are also some good comments from professors, many of whom say the problem is not only Wikipedia, but the fact that it's inappropriate for college students to use tertiary sources in their research-- another "rule" I've never heard.
Taking a seemingly opposite view of Wikipedia's credibility/usefulness, this article from the New York Tmes claims that Wikipedia has been cited in over 100 court rulings in the last few years. Strange, no?
Comments
Actually, I don’t let my Scientific & Technical Communication students cite Wikipedia. I haven’t said anything to you folks since sometimes your topics are so new that Wikipedia is one of the only available sources.
(I have too much to say about this, actually -- I’m writing my dissertation on Wikipedia.)
Posted by: Krista | April 1, 2007 06:47 PM
I had an English professor say to our class last semester that told us Wikipedia wouldn't be acceptable as a resource, citing the fact that it's just not the most reliable information. I always find myself drawn to wikipedia when I just want to find some general, basic information about a given topic. I always feel skittish about using it in papers, but it seems like it's much easier to find the date that something was created created, for instance, on wikipedia rather than searching through the producers website.
Posted by: tcarr | April 1, 2007 08:47 PM
Being in the School of Journalism at the University of Minnesota I have, in fact, had professors address using wikipedia as a source. Every one of them say that it is not a reliable source and if you use it as one it will not be taken into account. While I can see why they do it, sometimes its useful
Posted by: Mark Mahan | April 1, 2007 09:36 PM
I have come to realize that I have to ask each individual teachers because some teachers strongly recommend the website, (which is how I found out about it a few years ago) to a teacher taking of numerous points because I used the site in a paper. If I was a teacher, I don't think that I would let a student use it for a source, but I guess a guidance for a brief overview so then we could tackle the topic with some backgroud.
Posted by: Kelly | April 1, 2007 09:44 PM
I like using it to look up general things that spark my interest, but to cite information taken from Wikipedia and use in a court of law is scary.
Couldn't a person manipulate a topic on Wikipedia before they cite it in court to help their own cause? Scary!
Posted by: Blender | April 1, 2007 10:02 PM
All five of my instructors last semester did not allow Wikipedia for cited sources. They were upper level classes (writing intensive) under Liberal Arts. Since I haven't becom dependent on Wikipedia, it never bothered me.
Posted by: JuliaT | April 1, 2007 10:09 PM