The author praises the encyclopedia that is continuously updated and accessable to all. But as a historian, he contends the absence of accountability is reason to ban students from using Wikipedia in research where they are responsible for informational accuracy.
Is Wikipedia a good source for college research? What do you think?
“Wikipedia is the best thing ever. Anyone in the world, can write anything they want about any subject. So you know you are getting the best possible information.” – Michael Scott"
“Actor-comedian Sinbad had the last laugh after his Wikipedia entry announced he was dead…” USA Today Online, March 16, 2007.
"Dairy Queen, which now owns Orange Julius, inadvertently used the hoax material [found on Wikipedia] as the basis for a 2007 ad campaign! The ad firm space150 created a viral video on Julius Freed’s life, using all the amazing-but-true facts from the Wikipedia article. (Again, to review: they were amazing, but not true. So space150 was half-right.) Said creative director Riley Kane: Our assignment was to push the original Orange Julius and we went to Wikipedia and found out about how he invented the pigeon shower… We couldn’t make anything that good up, so we decided to base the film on the real facts."
- Ken Jennings (Yes, the Intelligent Person Who Won the Most $$$ in the History of Jeopardy (U.S.)
Scholars often take swipes at Wikipedia, claiming that it dumbs down education and encourages intellectual laziness. But in an article this week in Science Progress, a scholar at the University of Texas at Dallas argues that bans on Wikipedia are irresponsible.
Comedian Stephen Colbert gives a humorous explanation of how Wikipedia works. “Together we can create a reality we all agree on--the reality we just agreed on.”
