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Direct Link To This Post Topic: Wikipedia - how much do you use it?
    Posted: December 16 2007 at 14:24
Do you depend on Wikipedia? Do you trust it? Do you contribute?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 16 2007 at 14:38
I must admit I use it quite a lot for factual information, such as dates of birth and death of writers, artists and historical characters, or details about events or places. If I need something a bit more in-depth, I always check the info I found on Wikipedia against other sources, because I know how it works, and that it can be unreliable.

As to contributing, I only did for a very short time, and in a very limited context - the Italian entry about JRR Tolkien. However, I lost interest very soon, and had other things to occupy my time.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 14:47
I personally thank Wikipedia for my growing knowledge in music, and in everything else a bit. I just don't want to say "if Wikipedia weren't, I..." The whole world would be different, no doubt...

I depended on Wikipedia almost 100% until the day I became a member of PA. Actually, PA tremendously decreased my interest on Wikipedia, both on editing and reading. I was really an active member there, but PA did it's effect... Confused Tongue

But again, if Wikipedia weren't..... (Whoopss!!! LOL)



Edited by Aeternus - December 26 2007 at 14:48
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 14:53
A few times a day on average probably.  It's misleading though, people act like you can add or edit anything in the articles on wikipedia but I believe the revisions need to be passed by moderator-like people before (correct me if I'm wrong...).  I  mean I'm sure faulty stuff gets passed but probably not as often as the librarians at my school say..
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 15:00
Very rarely -- I just Google any given topic, and (depending on the nature of the subject) tend to then click on links to government, university or other such "reputable" sources.
 
Plus, I already know almost everything, anyway....Wink
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 15:18
Of course it's entirely dependent on what you're looking up.  Good for the non-controversial stuff.
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 15:22
I use it somewhat frequently, but I'd never use it for a source for a project or report, just for random stuff.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 15:29
After seeing so many errors I don`t even bother. In fact I don`t use the internet for a source of information. There`s books and libraries for that. It`s more of an entertainment thing for me. I even joined Queen Elizabeth`s Royal Channel on youtube.Smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 15:32
Originally posted by Bluesaga Bluesaga wrote:

A few times a day on average probably.  It's misleading though, people act like you can add or edit anything in the articles on wikipedia but I believe the revisions need to be passed by moderator-like people before (correct me if I'm wrong...).  I  mean I'm sure faulty stuff gets passed but probably not as often as the librarians at my school say..

You're right. Apparently there are people checking new and revised articles round-the-clock. And besides, people don't need Wikipedia to mess up topics and write goofy articles: that's what Uncyclopedia is for! (http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 15:40
Originally posted by Aeternus Aeternus wrote:

Do you depend on Wikipedia? Do you trust it? Do you contribute?


I've banned its use as a reference for coursework, research projects in our undergraduate and post-graduate  programmes - just too unreliable, worse ,wrong too many times to be a safe reference.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 17:09
I use it to get a general view of what I'm researching and then find specialist sites to get more in depth knowledge, interestingly I recently discovered that my great grandfather has an entry on wikipedia detailing how he won his George Cross
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 17:12
wikipedia's great for the sort of things I'm interested in - nerdy or arty rubbish that no-one hates enough to deface. not so much for political or national info ;P
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 17:36
Everyday...one of the most useful things on the internet. Even though it is inaccurate at times.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 26 2007 at 23:08
I use it a lot, but I'm not really dependent on it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2007 at 12:16
Quite alot, both for schoolwork and for fun.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2007 at 12:52
I use it to look up deceased Baseball and/or American Football and/or Basketball and/or NFL (former-) coaches/players in the "Recent deaths" section. LOL

Let's see... this month alone:

Cry

I've never heard of any of them...

Actually, I do have an account on there, but it's been a while since I've edited an entry on there.



Edited by Geck0 - December 27 2007 at 12:59
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2007 at 13:02
I use it a lot for school, and many of the information is good, but you know, there always are mistakes. It's incredible the amount of info they have!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2007 at 13:53
Alot.
 
I don't care what everyone says...I still think it's a great source.
I mainly use it for factual info as well, but also as a way to get to other more "scholarly" sources.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2007 at 14:02
I use it a lot. In high school, it eventually got banned by most teachers, but I only had to do 1 or 2 research projects a year, so by that time it didn't even effect me really. My WW2 History teacher didn't care if we used it or not, and for a variety of other reasons, mostly because I write papers very well, I used only wikipedia and maybe 1 or 2 other sources to write a few research papers. The class was set up like a college class in high school, and since I wasn't getting college credit for the difficulty of the coursework, my using wikipedia reflects my contempt. In college, I haven't had to write a research paper yet. So, I use wikipedia if I'm curious about something.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 27 2007 at 14:14
If I get a hit during a search, I will check out the entry. I don't use the information they provide. I just use it to guide me to other sources.
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