ephoenix

I’d just like to say how backwards it is that schools and universities do not accept Wikipedia (or any site with “wiki” in it’s title for that matter) as a source for research! It’s an incredible resource and offers a great starting point for researching topics you know nothing about.

“A good starting point” - This is what I was often told about wikipedia, and it’s true. It’s summarizes every relevant point in an easy to access manner. So even the schools tell us it’s a great starting point. The problem is, if you are unfortunate enough to have included wikipedia in a bibliography, you entire essay is written off as being worthless for it. Are we not to include every source we use? Is wikipedia not a source?!

Also, I have yet to realize why wikipedia is considered a poor resource by academia. I think it stems from an inaccurate idea of what wikipedia is. Yes, anyone can edit it. Yes, that means some people are going to fake stuff. BUT, there are also an enormous team of editors and wikipedia that reverse changes. Points need references and obvious graffiti is removed. Also, references are linked at the bottom. Would profs feel better if we just stole those references instead of the wikipedia page? Probably, but I don’t see any real difference.

So this is a message to all the profs and TAs out there: Wikipedia is LEGITIMATE! Yes, it’s not as good as one of your fancy scientific journals, but even those print errors. At least wikipedia can be updated instantly. Do not dismiss an essay simply because you see the word ‘Wiki’, it’s incredibly close-minded.

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