http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2928756&page=1
Even in our age of rapid speed technology, and having information at our fingertips, there is just no substitution for libraries.
Wikipedia is under fire for not authenticating its editors for the online web site. What I found most interesting is Middlebury College has banned students from citing information found on the site. Even though I’ve referenced the site, it should be obvious that most www sites are not authoritative.
With the Internet, it certainly eases the task of having to write lengthy research papers when one is able to hop online instead of making the trek to the local library. Who wants to sit wading through book after book, when you can go online and find virtually anything about anything?
I do think it’s important that when doing Internet searches that credible sites are used for citing and/or when making a determination about a subject or matter. I’ve done numerous searches on health issues, and have found soooooo many inconsistencies, that it is hard to believe that any source is telling the truth or is factual. I’ve learned that there is only one medical site that should ever be referenced when using the Internet (MedWatch), and think that when doing research, especially school related, that it’s important to find sites that journalists use, or actual scientists reference.
There is so much information flying out there, that it takes a sleuth to figure out what is fact and what is fiction. And, above all, DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ!
3 comments:
That is SO true! I used to use wikipedia all the time when writing papers. It wasn't until a couple months ago that I found out that the information was not always creditable and many of my resent intructors have not allowed information from wikipedia to be included in my papers. It's really unfortunate that we can't trust an online encyclopedia! Or much anything online!
I think it's easy to be fooled by Wikipedia. They appear to be a credible source and offer information like other trustworthy online encyclopedias. From my own experience and from what I've heard from others, people believe that the site is credible until they are informed otherwise. Now I use Wikipedia to find answers to random questions I encounter in life, like the names of the different Care Bears and I steer clear of the site while researching for school related assignments.
I too have referenced Wikiperia in my papers, although I have heard that it needs some back-up. I can understand why colleges might ban it's use, but I think it is more important to teach students to verify their own research through several sources. I think wikipedia is a good source for pop culture-type knowledge, but maybe less reliable for hard scientific facts.
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