Is Wikipedia a good source? 2 college librarians explain when to use the online encyclopedia – and when to avoid it

Posted by Bridget Retzloff and Katy Kelly | March 22, 2023 | 0 responses

What comes to mind when you think of Wikipedia? Maybe you think of clicking link after link to learn about a topic, followed by another topic and then another. Or maybe you’ve heard a teacher or librarian tell you that what you read on Wikipedia isn’t reliable. As research and instruction librarians, we know people have concerns about […] … learn more→

Has Wikipedia gone from being a curse to the great miracle of knowledge?

| June 25, 2021 | 0 responses

Some of the things we reasonably thought turned out to be the other way around. Perhaps tolerance is the passion of the inquisitors and ignorance is strength. The point is that every time the media asks about Wikipedia they tend to ask the wrong questions. Is Wikipedia reliable? How good are Wikipedia articles? And here we could, in a […] … learn more→

Wikipedia, a Professor\’s best friend

| October 15, 2014 | 0 responses

Michael Gorman, a former president of the American Library Association, wrote some years ago that \”a professor who encourages the use of Wikipedia is the intellectual equivalent of a dietitian who recommends a steady diet of Big Macs with everything.\” If that is true, I must be an intellectual fast-food vendor. I am a professor […] … learn more→

Wikipedia\’s policies force mass exodus of new editors

| March 9, 2013 | 0 responses

The self-proclaimed \”free encyclopedia that anyone can edit\” could be in violation of the deceptive statements provision set forth by the Federal Trade Commission, according to a recent study published by the journal \”American Behavioral Scientist\”. Three PhD students, led by Aaron Halfaker of the University of Minnesota, released their findings after conducting a four-year […] … learn more→

Crowd-sourcing — accurately!

| November 30, 2011 | 0 responses

Many popular sites, such as Wikipedia and Tripadvisor, rely on public participation to gather information — a process known as crowd data sourcing. While this kind of collective intelligence is often valuable, it is also fallible, and policing such sites for inaccuracies and offensive material is a costly undertaking. But not for long. Prof. Tova […] … learn more→

KSU and KASCT to collaborate on Wikipedia translation program

| October 31, 2011 | 0 responses

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have signed a memorandum of understanding with King Saud University (KSU) for the translation of Wikipedia articles into Arabic, an agreement that was formalized by Dr. Abdulaziz M. Al-Swailem, KACST Vice President for Scientific Research Support, and Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi, KSU Vice Rector for Graduate Studies and […] … learn more→