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Wikipedia, How reliable is it as a source of information?

Why do many people here on Yahoo use Wikipedia as a source of information when college professors do not allow students to use it as a reliable source of information?

3 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Wikipedia is a good place to start any kind of search. Used to be that it was easy to put up all sorts of nonsense, but since so many people contribute and can edit the content, SOME areas are actually quite accurate.

    W is not a peer-reviewed journal per se, therefore it has less stature in the academic world.

    For a basic definition, it is a good place to start though. Often there are links which are considered 'more academic'......

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    regardless of what human beings would declare, Wikipedia isn't a stable analyze source. undergo in concepts, all and sundry can edit an get right of entry to. And regrettably, your seventh grader probable does not be attentive to sufficient approximately certainly analyze to be attentive to the version. the proper place to do intense analyze has continuously been the library. The previous trend card catalog (confident, those issues nonetheless exist!) would be plenty extra stable than the internet. the internet is an incredible place to disperse education rapidly, however the character of the internet is such that that's complicated to envision factors. Too many human beings think of that basically because of the fact some thing is on line means it would desire to be real. and that's a methods from the case. while print books and journals, not less than, had to make it with the aid of a serious eye (the two an editor or a peer overview board). And as a result are plenty extra effectual factors for real analyze than the internet. initiate on the library, and use the internet for secondary education or as a persist with-up. yet do not initiate there.

  • 1 decade ago

    Short answer: Wikipedia is an easy source to access but can be abused by contributors such as reporting the deaths of Senators Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/...

    So...sometimes it is reliable but it can be a bit unregulated so that professors do not want their students to accept the information as verified.

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