Reference Riches: Wikipedia

It has finally happened. This particular resistor has broken down and added the Wikipedia to the CFLC Reference Desk list of tools. Why now, despite having been asked about it by members and workshop participants for quite some time?

Several things. Not using the Wikipedia costs libraries an immediacy not found elsewhere, e.g., the coverage of last week's London bombings began just moments after the first reports and it continues to be updated as news develops, and just today, the information about the rescheduling of the shuttle launch was posted almost the instant NASA announced it. Mostly, however, the answer lies in having found this particularly lucid and cogent description of Wikipedia's pros and cons, which has also been linked as a caveat on the Reference Desk page. (Thank you, Rebecca Hedreen, of the Frequently Asked Questions blog!)

If you have concerns (or especially if you haven’t!) about using Wikipedia, read that post and use the Wikipedia with the appropriate cautions.

More about Wikipedia in specific will be covered in the upcoming workshop, Ready Reference Using the Internet, at CFLC on the morning of Thursday, August 11, while the technology of wikis will be discussed in detail at an upcoming workshop, Technology Update, at Volusia on the morning of Wednesday, August 10.

ADDENDUM: 9:30 P.M.
After contacting Rebecca to notify her of the link to her blog, she responded with a citation to another great post about Wikipedia and how to use it for students (probably junior high through college) as both a critical thinking exercise and a contribution to Wikipedia itself. See Turning Wikipedia into an Asset for Schools by Andy Carvin in his blog, Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth. Thanks for the heads-up, Rebecca!

SUBJECTS: REFERENCE RICHES; WORKSHOP WEALTH