Wikipedia

In “Wikipedia clamps down on ‘unreliable’, ” Martin (2007, para. 12) explained “Wikipedia, the internet’s most popular encyclopedia, has become an online phenomenon since it was launched six years ago”. Wikipedia gives us a lot of information so many students tend to use the site for their study. While it is a famous and popular site, not every word and definition is reliable and people face some problems. Therefore, people should avoid using Wikipedia because everyone can write and edit an article, students need to not rely on Internet sites heavily, and some professors don’t allow students to use Wikipedia.

First, Wikipedia is a site that is made by hundreds of Internet users. According to an article, about 38 million people used the English vision of Wikipedia in December 2006 (Byers, 2007,). It is free for everyone to write and edit an article and that is a problem. For example, someone may edit an accurate article and rewrite wrong information intentionally. Many people believe the information in Wikipedia, so wrong information will spread all over the world. People don’t have any guarantee that the information in Wikipedia is right.

Second, Wikipedia gives students an extremely easy way to study. An author insists, “Students need to learn how to assess the relevance and authority of information sources independent of their media” (Bilodeau, 2008, para. 11). Students tend to depend on Internet sites but they should not forget other ways to get sources. For example, newspapers, books, and magazines will give them good information. If they write papers with information from only Wikipedia, the paper may not inform other people of enough knowledge. Students should search from not only Wikipedia but also other sources.

Last, many professors don’t accept using encyclopedias such as Wikipedia. They refuse to receive papers on which students put Wikipedia as a citation because they know to what degree they can believe it. For instance, a student gets a lot of information form Wikipedia and hands in the paper to his professor. His professor may not grade it and the student may be confronted with a serious problem of whether he will be able to pass a class or not. Students should follow the guideline of their professors and use reliable resources.

In conclusion, Wkipedia has three big problems: that it is not a believable site, it makes students lazy, and it is not regarded as a formal resource from the view of professors. It may mislead people to q wrong direction and make people confused. Also people need to use other formal sources. People tend to choose an easy way, but we should not select Wikipedia if we have a possibility that it will show us incorrect answers. Wikipedia is not an appropriate site for searching for reliable and academic information.

Reference

Bilodeau, E. (2007, January 14). Academic banning of Google and Wikipedia misguided. Weblog. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.coolweblog.com/bilodeau/archives/003743.html.

Byers, M. (2007, March 8). Controversy Over Use of Wikipedia in Academic Papers. Smith, Sophian, Smith College. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2007/03/08/News/Controversy.Over.UseOf.Wikipedia.In Academic.Papers.Arrives.At.Smith-2765409.shtml.

Martin, N. (2007, September 20). Wikipedia Clamps Down on ‘Unreliable’ Editors Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved April 23, 2008, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/20/wiki120.xml.