Wikipedia

Wikipedia
The most famous wiki in existence is [|Wikipedia.] Available online: [] Developed by Jimmie Wales and Larry Sanger, its mission is simply "to store the sum of human knowledge." It has gone beyond the concept of an free online encyclopedia to become the fastest growing repository of knowledge on the Internet. It is one of the top 100 websites in the world. There are over two million entries in the English version of Wikipedia, and hundreds of thousands of entries in other languages.

Read the [|introduction page] to Wikipedia for a concise description on Wikipedia. Available online: []

This video is a lecture by Jimmie Wales on Wikipedia and how it works. It is a bit lengthy, but is a fascinating behind the scenes look, and one that you should view before making a decision on whether Wikipedia should be used by your students. Available online: []

This web site available online: [] gives another good description on how wikis and Wikipedia operates and is a fascinating view and a must read. There are three parts of the article: 1. [|Introduction to How Wikis Work] 2. [|Understanding a Wiki Community] 3. Vandalism and Edit Wars

There are literally tens of thousands of editors who volunteer their time and talents to maintain Wikipedia. As a wiki, anyone can contribute to this site, either adding new content or modifying existing content. The Wikipedia community takes this charge of maintaining knowledge quite seriously, and it aggressively monitors the site for vandalism, false information and bias. Wikipedia has established a neutrality policy to help keep the content bias-free, though it seems to be a constant battle.

Wikipedia's use by students for research purposes is a controversial one. Due to its open nature as a wiki, its reliability has been called into question. There have been news stories of vandalism and incidents that have caused many people to question whether or not Wikipedia is appropriate for use by students. Take a look at this [|website] that has documented some of Wikipedia's issues, but take note that this site has an extreme anti-Wikipedia bias. It is worth a look to see that there are some real concerns that must be taken into account when deciding your policy on Wikipedia.

Should students use Wikipedia in their research? Is it a valid citable reference, or a starting point that gives a good overview of a subject? Opinions vary on the matter. In fact, this article cites the founder of Wikipedia discouraging academic use of the site on the collegiate level.