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Is Wikipedia a Legitimate Research Source

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Submitted By asoberanis
Words 624
Pages 3
27 September 2012

The Internet has evolved from a business use-protocol to a necessity at home and an invaluable tool to college students worldwide. Since the boom of the Information Superhighway, otherwise known as the Internet, anonymous credibility has been given to anyone with access to the Internet. Before the Internet became what it is today, college professors required the use of the library for research and encyclopedias for accredited facts from known contributors to today’s society. It is said that, “Once upon a time, Encyclopedia Britannica recruited Einstein, Freud, Curie, Mencken and even Houdini as contributors. The names helped the encyclopedia bolster its credibility.”(Stross 331) The new millennium of college students has since abandoned the gothic ruins of brick and mortar for modern technology. Hence, as an evolving community of college students, we must consider the use of websites such as Wikipedia for credible sources or not use them at all.
The Internet contains a history of creditable sources. It also contains a legacy of anonymous sources. We have relied on the reviews and opinions of others to prove the validity of said information on the Internet and stop challenging it when we read the answer that strikes a chord in our cognitive judgments. If this process continues to be the norm, printed sources such as encyclopedias will leave people saying “This was written by one person? Then looked at by only two or three other people? How can I trust that process?” (Stross 332)
Websites such as Wikipedia have become a challenging debate amongst students and professors to be of use as a creditable source from the Internet. This kind of trend has evolved because of history. History can always be re-examined and edited. Wikipedia has proven, through its supervising editors, that history is a set of events in a place and time that can be edited based on facts and creditable sources to “enhance the encyclopedia’s reputation.”(Stross 332) How can we trust articles that are not always perfect? (Stanford Daily 344)Trusting one source among others is a daunting task, but singling out one site is unreasonable.
Professors have gone so far as to ban the use of Wikipedia as a source from the Internet by establishing policies such as, “Wikipedia is not an acceptable citation, even though it may lead to a citable source.” (Waters 341) Policies as such can set a challenge for students when searching for credible information. This can also alter a student’s perception of what is or isn’t credible -- after all, our professors glean the information they pass on to us from credible sources, correct? I can side with professors that are expecting accurate and credible sources and are making a generalization that Wikipedia is not an acceptable citation. Wikipedia now includes the sources to all contributions and edits, and then the sources are verified by supervising editors who have contributed to the community. All articles are available for improvement, and there are some that have been blocked from editing to prevent sabotage of an original article.
Considering the benefits and drawbacks of using Wikipedia, it is obvious that citing from one source can cause questionable credibility. Also, allowing the use of one site to be held accountable for all sources is not fair when the community of contributors range from recognized authors to the guy next door. It is agreed that Wikipedia may not be a completely credible source for any information searched, but the sources provided are what should be referenced for credibility. Wikipedia should be used as a starting point for researching information, and its sources should be used for information accuracy. Colleges should encourage the use of sources for Wikipedia articles but not necessarily in Wikipedia itself.

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