Wikipedia
I have been using Wikipedia as a source of information for the blog and for myself for 20 years. Here's one of my posts from 2006 in which I cite Wikipedia ... My Pulp Fiction.
People must have questioned using Wikipedia back then, because I see I have a post the next year, 2007, explaining why I use it as a source - Wikipedia ...
I want to cite sources that are somewhat middle of the road agenda-wise, rather than ones leaning to one side or the other, as is sometimes the case with "privatre" pages. I'm aware Wikipedia is at best a secondary source, that it can itself be slanted, and that it has a tendency to fall into the error of Wikiality - truth by consensus rather than fact :-) - yet still, one would be hard pressed to find a source that can give fairly reliable introductory-level information on subjects as diverse as the medieval Battle of Stamford Bridge and the present day science fiction tv series Stargate Atlantis ...
Anyway, I love Wikipedia, despite its possible flaws. I hope it continues to be as great as it has been. Happy birthday, Wikipedia!
posted by crystal | 11:04 AM
2 Comments:
Crystal, I like Wikipedia too. I even made a small donation to their last fundraiser.
My folks had a set of World Book encyclopedias that we used for school reports and just to look up information. But information moves too fast now for a set of physical books. Wiki is a way to find stuff before it becomes outdated.
That was my childhood too - the encyclopedias :) It is great to have a free source of pretty objective information at one's fingertips.
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