What to do with Wikipedia

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Posted by Kathy Lemaire on 10 Apr 2008 at 15:11

‘If you want to get five opinions from four information professionals, just mention Wikipedia . Often banned by professors, panned by traditional reference book publishers, and embraced by just about everyone else, Wikipedia marches on like a great beast, growing larger and more commanding every day. With no paid editors and written by almost anyone, it shouldn't have succeeded, but it has. In fact, it's now emerged as the No. 1 go-to information source in the world. It's used not only by the great unwashed but also by many educated people as well.'

So says librarian William Badke in the March / April edition of Information Today.

He goes on to declare: ‘The Wikipedia issue has become a flashpoint for information literacy. On one side, we have opponents who view Wikipedia users as ignorant of the need to use reliable sources when doing academic work. On the other, we have devoted users who have embraced this tool as the crown jewel of the new digital information world. ‘

This is an interesting article which is sure to get some librarians hot under the collar and could provide an interesting discussion topic for sessions with students.

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