QUOTE(Newsfeed @ Tue 8th March 2011, 6:34am)
Wikipedia functions as reliable sourceThe Reflector onlineThe Internet has revolutionized the way we do research today. The days of spending hours inside a library looking for the perfect book for a paper assignment are over. The accessibility of databases, journals and books published online has helped
...View the article Just as aside, this article repeats a bit of error I just ran across in another article (an interview of Jimbo). It must be a widely-believed WP myth.
QUOTE
In fact, certain controversial pages are "protected," meaning they cannot be edited at all. According to a NYTimes.comarticle published online in 2006, topics that are frequently vandalized become "protected" to prevent people from having editing wars online.
Doh. She's talking about semi-protection. Strangely, the public cannot tell the color of one padlock from another-- the dummies.
Okay, that
is a pretty stupid icon in that regard, come to think of it. In the article I read, Jimbo himself pointed out that most of these articles could be edited by anybody 4 days after registering (he forgot to mention the 10 edits needed also, and made me wonder if he's even aware of them).
The writer of this column then goes on:
QUOTE
Now, I don't suggest writing your next research paper solely from what you find on Wikipedia, but I think it is a good starting place to find background information on the topic you are learning. Professors who are strong advocates against this website should consider taking a second look at how Wikipedia can make the learning process easier for students. I have learned a lot from this site; you can, too, if you give it a chance. Megan McKeown is a junior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at opinion@reflector.msstate.edu.
Megan, who appears to be female,
appears to be yet another dear reader of Wikipedia who has discovered the benefits of reading, but has obviously never gotten beyond the first phase of editing it, which is to register as a name-user. I suspect she's emblematic of a fair number of people.
Keep that on the QT.