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Post by mandrilltiger on Jun 5, 2009 14:43:01 GMT -5
For 2nd time one my teachers said that you can't use Wikipedia becaue it can be edited by anyone.
Personaly I think that's absolutly incorrect so I decided I'd see what people on this site thinks.
I did some research and basically some people think it is good others don't. Nature did a study but I'm still not really sure.
What do you think?
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Post by fifisdead on Jun 5, 2009 17:03:27 GMT -5
Wikipedia is fine, but you can't use it as a reliable source...
I use it a lot to find out about stuff that doesn't really matter if I have accurate facts or not...
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Post by TheDavii on Jun 5, 2009 17:48:23 GMT -5
Wikipedia is great, and the information is, for the most part, reliable.
But I don't think that's your teacher's point.
Wikipedia is a starting point for research, not an end point. Everything in Wikipedia should be documented with original references (no original research is allowed). Use Wikipedia to get an understanding of a topic, and as a launch point for further research. Use its references if you must, but not Wikipedia itself.
Do not, ever, reference it in a research paper. In general, encyclopaedias should not be referenced in papers, and Wikipedia even more so avoided.
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Post by OMFGitsVico on Jun 17, 2009 11:14:08 GMT -5
Personally, I hate Wikipedia.
But I do use it as a "starting point" like Davii suggested.
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Post by mandrilltiger on Jun 19, 2009 16:46:30 GMT -5
I've always disliked the answer that it is a good starting point or casual research. The reason is because that answer falls into a gray area niether black nor white. Facts are either right or wrong their is no sometimes right or most of the time right. It is just right or wrong.
However I guess you're right that it isn't good for formal research.
It's hard to convince anyone that something is netural rather than good or bad.
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