Is Wikipedia an online blessing?
I’m sure by now you’re familiar with Wikipedia, it’s unlimited source of information makes it a ‘go to’ site when researching. From Spike Jonze to Telephones it’s on there, but is the information on Wikipedia valuable enough not to have to search elsewhere?

What is Wikipedia?

Fundamentally, Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia full of information on pretty much any topic or subject you can think of. Wikipedia’s goal is to make the sum of human knowledge available to everyone on the planet at no cost. Considering 580 million people have access to the internet and Wikipedia is in 250 different languages, their goal is well met. There aren’t paid professional journalists or authors who write the content though, any average Joe can write something and upload it to Wikipedia. It’s a completely self contained site written by the people, for the people. At present there are over 15 million articles on the site. Just think of all that accessible information. Before Wikipedia there wasn’t a website that had the sheer amount of reachable information at no cost to the user. Wikipedia has revolutionized the web. It isn’t the only online encyclopaedia, there are many similar sites that share the same format, but it is the most used and most recognized. According to lovetoknow.com, Wikipedia is the 8th most visited site on the web. Aleks Krotoski stated that, “Wikipedia provides the first stop down the rabbit hole of a complex topic”.

How accurate is Wikipedia?

The information contained in Wikipedia, like all information, depends on the knowledge or the ability of the person giving the information. Some information isn’t as accurate as it could be, when this occurs someone else can edit the information in order for it to be more precise. There are mistakes but are usually corrected in time. Wikipedia has taken numerous hits; there was talk not so long ago about an anonymous writer linking a former journalist John Seigenthaler with the assassination to Robert Kennedy and John F. Kennedy. There are people who devote time to correcting mistakes and assuring information is accurate. The way it works is if you post something on the site, if that post ever gets changed by another user, you’ll be notified. You then have the power to re-change it or leave it due to the information being better than your original post. Eventually people who post incorrect data will give up and then all that remains is the correct information on the specific topic. Therefore I’d say that a considerable amount of Wikipedia is true.

Should it be the ‘go to’ site?

I won’t lie, most of the time when I’m researching I go on Wikipedia, but it shouldn’t be the only site you go on. There are a number of reasons for this. The information might not be accurate so therefore you’re researching something that is wrong. The information might be truthful but it might not be detailed enough, meaning you’d only get basic knowledge. Basic knowledge doesn’t help you learn, it helps the understanding of a subject. When doing research you should use other meanings of research as well. It’s hard to ignore Wikipedia. Whatever you type in on Google search it’s bound to be the first link that comes up. In my opinion I think it’s best to scroll down at some point because even if you don’t get more information from another site, you’ll be able to compare information.

Other ways to research

There are so many other ways to research presides going on Wikipedia. Not just other sites online but videos are good as well. Depending on the type of person you are, you might find that watching videos about a certain topic is a better way at researching simply because you remember it better. It all comes down to what helps you. When researching, it’s always best to do too much research. Read articles, look at photos, watch videos, you remember what libraries are for? Use them because all these sources are here to help you. Use them to your advantage.

Is Wikipedia good for research then?

Wikipedia is a valuable source of online information because it’s a good starting point for research, no matter what topic. After you’ve looked at Wikipedia though, comparing the information to another source is best because you’ll then be able to determine it’s accuracy. Research is all about finding out the most you possibly can about something. Not everything is on Wikipedia. Looking into books and articles is a good way of finding out other information. Articles are especially good at finding out opinions on a specific subject. Personal opinions aren’t on Wikipedia, therefore if you’re doing research, spread your wings and look everywhere. The more research you do the better. If you’re doing something about film, look on imdb.com. if you’re looking for photos, go on flickr.com. also, there’s not much that isn’t on youtube.com one way or another. These sites were made to be used, so use them for what they were intended for. Don’t ignore them purely because staying on Wikipedia is easier.