Comments on: Is Wikipedia Becoming a Respectable Academic Source?

By: 2009 Horizon Report Australia-New Zealand Edition » Two to Three Years: Open Content

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:48:48 +0000

[...] Wikipedia Becoming a Respectable Academic Source? http://digitalscholarship.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/is-wikipedia-becoming-a-respectable-academic-sour... (Lisa Spiro, Digital Scholarship in the Humanities, 1 September 2008.) Once considered not [...]

By: Gretamewing’s Blog

Gretamewing’s Blog — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:06:10 +0000

[...] as one of the most commonly referred to sources of information. The wordpress blog discussions of Lisa Spiroargue the increasing academic reliability of Wikipedia articles, evidenced through a [...]

By: 4 wise ways to wield Wikipedia « Mimi’s New Media Blog

4 wise ways to wield Wikipedia « Mimi’s New Media Blog — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:18:25 +0000

[...] L. 2008. Is Wikipedia Becoming a Respectable Academic Source? http://digitalscholarship.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/is-wikipedia-becoming-a-respectable-academic-sour… (accessed 10 May [...]

By: The Writer's Pulse » Writing » Using Wikipedia as a resource

The Writer's Pulse » Writing » Using Wikipedia as a resource — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:25:09 +0000

[...] Back in 2006, the creator of Wikipedia himself, Jimmy Wales, discouraged anyone from using the website in their academic works. However, even high-brow researchers and scholars are turning to Wikipedia, though not always for information gathering: Along with the increasing number of citations, another indicator that Wikipedia may be gaining respectability is its citation by well-known scholars. Indeed, several scholars both cite Wikipedia and are themselves subjects of Wikipedia entries, including Gayatri Spivak, Yochai Benkler, Hal Varian, Henry Jenkins, Jerome McGann, Lawrence Buell, and Donna Haraway. – Is Wikipedia Becoming a Respectable Academic Source? [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 02:23:47 +0000

In my opinion, no. While it certainly has some great articles, that actually have great information, most of the articles are bias in one way or another, and it takes forever to fix them. And when somebody tries to fix anything, edit wars start and it usually ends up with you on the discussion page getting told your “missing” something.

Or your not “understanding” a point.

I can tell you right now that the bias on wikipedia, whether it be political bias, other bias, or anything else, is what’s killing it. That’s why people don’t allow you to use it in school. My own friend used it for research and ended up getting an F because of it.

Wikipedia is a great idea, but it’s been completely destroyed by bias and inaccuracies.

By: The Validity of Wikipedia - Volconvo Debate Forums

The Validity of Wikipedia - Volconvo Debate Forums — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:14:58 +0000

[...] Wikipedia’s limitations, it’s very useful, and to dismiss it out of hand is nonsense. See Is Wikipedia Becoming a Respectable Academic Source?. Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is [...]

By: Thomas Basbøll

Thomas Basbøll — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:03:57 +0000

Very interesting post, Lisa, and thank you for the citation analysis. I’ve been curious about the same thing. On the main issue, however, I disagree.

“Few experienced researchers trust Wikipedia, so under no circumstances cite it as a source of evidence (unless your topic is the Wikipedia itself)” (Craft of Research, 3rd edition, p. 37).

I think it is important to distinguish between the utility of Wikipedia as a research tool and its citability as a source. Once we have done the work of critically evaluating a particular article, we are in a position to spare our readers the trouble.

More here:

http://secondlanguage.blogspot.com/2008/12/citing-wikipedia-ie-why-not-to.html

By: lauren’s library blog » shifting gears: talking about the future of libraries

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:20:02 +0000

[...] are being proclaimed as dead, or at least a transition from the voice of an individual to a team. Wikipedia is getting better. People are claiming that Twitter has jumped the shark. And lately there are a whole lot less [...]

By: New Jersey » heasulli’s daily diigo bookmarks 09/24/2008

New Jersey » heasulli’s daily diigo bookmarks 09/24/2008 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:30:07 +0000

[...] Is Wikipedia Becoming a Respectable Academic Source? « Digital Scholarship in the Humanities [...]

By: Lisa Spiro

Lisa Spiro — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:48:21 +0000

Good point, Dan. I certainly don’t want to minimize the importance (and joy!) of doing original research. In many cases, researchers cited Wikipedia to point out a convenient, openly accessible source for the equivalent of coffee chat–e.g., if you want to know more about, say, the metaphor of “Turtles all the way down,” see Wikipedia.