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Jimmy Wales Says Students 'Should Use' Wikipedia
An anonymous reader writes "The BBC has up an article chatting with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. Wales views the Wikipedia site as an educational resource, and apparently thinks teachers who downplay the site are 'bad educators'. '[A] perceived lack of authority ... has drawn criticism from other information sources. Ian Allgar of Encyclopedia Britannica maintains that, with 239 years of history and rigorous fact-checking procedures, Britannica should remain a leader in authoritative, politically-neutral information. Mr Allgar pointed out the trustworthy nature of paid-for, thoroughly-reviewed content, and noted that Wikipedia is still prone to vandalism.'"
its entries can too easily be cleaned, editted and whitewashed that it can't be trusted as a reliable source of information.
See that "Cite this article" link on the left column of Wikipedia?
Click on it.
IS it just me, or is Wikipedia best suited for pulp culture trivia...
Eg, it is a great resource if you want to learn about say, Cop-Tur of the Go-Bots (eg, if you are wondering about a random Robot Chicken episode).
As an academic resource, it is nonciteable and nontrustable, due to the volatile nature and anonymous content.
(Admittedly, I have edited Wikipedia to add corrections. But I would never cite it, but instead use it as a smarter google for some topics)
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