Wiki Warning

[Vladimir]

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2167949/hackers-wikipedia-dupe-users

I know Wiki is cited quite often here and wanted to pass this along.

[Papewaio]

Wiki is not a reliable source for anything. It is a nice primer and fairly accurate for the physical sciences.

But for anything that is a threat to life, limb, PC, assignment or bank account always go to a reliable source.

[Stig]

Aye, personally I use it only to do some quick reading about a subject. Sometimes the author named sources he used, in that case it would be handy for me to look in them too, if I can't find any other sources.

[The Wizard]

I disagree. Wikipedia is surprisingly accurate on a great many subjects. They even tested it: huge, unwieldy, expensive Encyclopaedia Britannica versus online, open-source, open-for-editing Wikipedia. End result: ye olde Britannica won out, yes, but only by an average of one or two mistakes less per article.

Plus, Wikipedia has a lot more (quality) articles on modern subjects that "real" encyclopedias lack. Think music, for instance.

But, when history is concerned, any encyclopedia is merely meant as introductory. I suspect this is the same for all fields of science. You're better off buying a good book if you want the real skinny on matters.

[Stig]

Yeah correct Wiki has loads of good articles, but some articles can be edited by anyone, which means you get all sorts of subjective opinions into what should be an objective article

[Kraxis]

Generally I use Wiki for the sources the authors include. Just like I use encyclopedias.
That is if I want to know something about the subject.

If there are no sources I won't use said article for much. If there are, and they seem ok (I like to check them out, they might contain some cool info), then it might be fair to use it.
Also, and very importantly, there are often external links. Links that include info the author hasn't used.

For instance if you look up the battle of Kursk you will get a generic article, it is good and fairly deep for Wiki, but still generic. However if you look at the external links you will find several gems. Including this little page.
http://www.uni.edu/~licari/citadel.htm
Byt itself it is well worth the time to read through.

[The Wizard]

I've used wiki for analyses for high school and even university. The key is to know what is worth your while and what isn't.

But, yes: if you want to use Wikipedia (or any encyclopedia for that matter) for an in-depth study, essay or opinion, it can only take you so far. You're going to need specialist literature for that. Encyclopedias collect all knowledge, yes, but they're only stepping stones.

[Sarmatian]

Wiki is excellent starting point for research, expecially if you are not familiar with a certain subject.

[Subedei]

Wiki is excellent starting point for research, expecially if you are not familiar with a certain subject.

That´s how it is....one thing leads to the other from there.:book: