When I was in high school I had to write a senior paper. We were able to use any web resource except for Wikipedia. Since then I have always been told that Wikipedia is not a credible source. Because of this, I never research with it. If I’m starting a research paper, I normally type a search into Google. If it is a topic in for example the health field, then I would start with a search on the health.com website. In addition to these searches, most of my research papers require scholarly articles. For this, I will either search for scholarly articles with Google, or I will go to my libraries website and search through there.
Before a research project I will explain to my students what Wikipedia is. I will explain to them what is credible within Wikipedia and what is not credible. For research papers I will accept papers with Wikipedia as a resource, but not as the only resource. And the information has to be sited on the website or else it will not be accepted. I believe the article supports what I’m saying with the credible vs. not credible information.
Internet research needs to include at least 3 sources in my experiences. If Wikipedia is one of the sources, that is alright. Just as long as the whole paper is not based on Wikipedia. Wikipedia has some great information that is cited, however, it’s the incorrect information on the site that is holding it back. Wikipedia has come a long way since I was in high school and trying to use it as a source. I believe that in years to come, the website will soon become completely credible with no doubts.
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Great minds think alike :-) I agreed with not only how you were made to get your resources and how you chose to do so, but also with how you will request your students to do their research. Although, the website being 100% credible in years to come may seem like a stretch...there will always be those people who post something on the site just to see if people read it and believe it or not.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good point, perhaps in the future it will become totally credible. It is sometimes a good place for students to start, but you have it right to tell them about the site. Many adults don't even realize that anyone can change it!
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