Wikipedia - how much do you use it?

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   I adore wikipedia.  I just spend hours on it reading country profiles, city profiles, historical figure profiles etc.

I'd never use it for a project or anything but then, since I've been out of study of anything except music for about 3 years now, I'd never need to either.  Absolutely one of the best additions to the internet ever.  

If you don't accept the risk of it being slightly inaccurate and double check aspects of a subject that seem pertinent then that's just being stupid...obviously, given the nature of its construct.  

But then again, encyclopedias have been wildly inaccurate for decades...as they can only rely on information correct at time of printing ;)

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Era V. Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: November 17 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 97	Posted: December 28 2007 at 09:19
	I adore wikipedia. I just spend hours on it reading country profiles, city profiles, historical figure profiles etc. I'd never use it for a project or anything but then, since I've been out of study of anything except music for about 3 years now, I'd never need to either. Absolutely one of the best additions to the internet ever. If you don't accept the risk of it being slightly inaccurate and double check aspects of a subject that seem pertinent then that's just being stupid...obviously, given the nature of its construct. But then again, encyclopedias have been wildly inaccurate for decades...as they can only rely on information correct at time of printing ;)

progaeopteryx Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: June 03 2005 Location: Refrigerator Status: Offline Points: 3613	Posted: December 28 2007 at 12:38
	I think Wikipedia is just a fabulous creation. I contribute from time to time, mostly adding to those stubs in topics I'm well versed in, but sometimes just adding hyperlinks to terms in articles that were missing them. As for the inaccuracies, Wikipedia is improving in that area, so much so that an article in Nature, an international weekly journal of science, claimed that Wikipedia comes close to the Encyclopaedia Britannica in terms of accuracy for its science entries. Britannica of course refuted it, and later Nature issued a rebuttal. That was back in December 2005, and I haven't heard anything about it since. As for other categories, I'm sure there are mistakes. Encyclopedias have always been known to have mistakes, even those written by experts in their fields. I think the major point to be taken from this inaccuracy issue is that if you are an expert in your field, then fix the inaccuracy. Make Wikipedia better. Add reliable reference sources to the articles. Is that really so hard to do rather than complaining about it? As for hard core research, people who are familiar with their fields should know the appropriate resources for checking stuff out. If they don't know it now, hopefully they will understand what proper context encyclopedias are supposed to fill.

Vibrationbaby Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: February 13 2004 Status: Offline Points: 6898	Posted: December 28 2007 at 19:22
	What happened to The Encyclopedia Britannica ? What happened to slide rules ? What happenned to turntables ? What happened to dial phones ? I`m also worried about the baggage retrieval system they have at Heathrow ? Do they have that on Wikopedia ?

Gamemako Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: March 31 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1184	Posted: December 30 2007 at 18:35
	I am a user, and I edit quite a bit. Always have.
	Hail Eris!

darren Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: October 31 2005 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 452	Posted: December 30 2007 at 21:24
	Hate wikipedia. I'm in the middle of a political commotion (I'm not going to get into it here or give details). It's an issue that requires accurate biology. I hate how people quote wikipedia like it's some kind of reliable source. I find wikipedia has many errors and a LOT of missing info.
	"they locked up a man who wanted to rule the world. the fools they locked up the wrong man." - Leonard Cohen

ita_prog_fan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: April 20 2005 Location: Italy Status: Offline Points: 258	Posted: December 31 2007 at 05:09
	. I use it more than Google... you can find certain infos more easily ! I wrote about 10 articles in Italian and 1 in English (mostly about 19th century war vessels) You have to be carefull, of course, many inaccurate statements in there, but can you tell me where you don't find inaccurate information ? .

cookieacquired Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: January 23 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 911	Posted: December 31 2007 at 11:54
	Yes Wikipedia is useful, though should be taken with a grain of salt. Much good music and other bits of info has been learned off the site