“Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?" by Brock Read - Chronicle of Higher Education
In the article, “Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?” it discusses whether or not the information presented on Wikipedia is credible or not. In the beginning of the article it talks about how Mr. Halavais, an assistant professor, tried planting thirteen errors on Wikipedia. He did this as a test and to his surprise he found that within three hours all of the errors had been corrected. The article then discusses how accurate Wikipedia is. A study was done to compare the content on Wikipedia to the content in the Encyclopedia Britannica. The study found that on average Wikipedia had one or more errors than the Encyclopedia Britannica. The article then discusses the issues scholars have with Wikipedia. They believe that Wikipedia is not getting expertise because anyone could post or edit a topic. In an interview with the co founder of Wikipedia, he said that “they have been doing a lot to prevent misleading information.” They have editors who regularly check the validity of the information that is posted and they are now requiring that in order to create a topic or post on the site you must be a registered member of Wikipedia.
I personally think Wikipedia is a good resource but only to a certain extinct. It should not be anyone’s only source for information. I think that the study done with the Encyclopedia Britannica proves that it is a valid resource. I use Wikipedia from time to time but when doing research I never let it be my only source for information. I do like the fact that there are editors that check for false information and delete anything that is not true but that still leaves room for error. This article has shown me that I need to have more than one source when collecting information and I must check the information for validity. If I find two to three other sources with the same information as Wikipedia, I will trust its validity but if not I will be skeptical about whether or not it is credible information or not.
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