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Welcome to tips and tricks for research. My name is Silvia and I’m a librarian. I can
show you a few things that may help with you with your research. In this video tutorial,
I’ll go over why some professors don’t like seeing Wikipedia in your references and
how you can use Wikipedia to your advantage. So okay, we’ve all done it. “Wikipedia”
something because we need to know just a little more on a topic. Although Wikipedia can be
a great starting point, it’s important not to use Wikipedia in your references or bibliography
unless noted otherwise by your professor. There are a few reasons why some professors
do not want students using Wikipedia as a main source. The first reason is reliability.
Can you find the author’s name in the Wikipedia article with the credentials? Not likely,
the writer/ writers of a Wikipedia article is/are unknown and credentials are not provided,
so the creator could be any member of the public and this could make information inaccurate.
Second, if a Wikipedia entry has accurate information, that information may change from
time to time as others can edit some Wikipedia entries. If you go to the “Discussion”
tab in Wikipedia, you’ll notice a discussion of the entry and what people have deleted
or added at different points in time. Even in Wikipedia’s own Wikipedia entry, there
is debate about the accuracy of the information and changes made by different writers. Third,
Wikipedia is not considered a scholarly source, so if you professor indicates on an assignment
that only scholarly sources should be consulted and cited, using Wikipedia would go against
that. In an article where Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia was interviewed, he said
that “It [Wikipedia] is pretty good, but you have to be careful with it, it’s good
enough knowledge depending on what your purpose is. If you are reading a novel that mentions
the Battle of the Bulge, for instance, you could use Wikipedia to get a quick basic overview...but
students writing a paper about the battle should hit the history books.” But how can
one find good basic information in scholarly articles that are too specific in a topic
area? Here are some tips that may help. Some Wikipedia entries will have a “cited references
list,” after reading the Wikipedia entry, you can try to trace the source of the information
and find books that may be in your university’s library. Usually books can provide general
overviews on topics. For example, for the Wikipedia entry on Roman Art, the sources
cite a scholarly journal article in the notes. You can take that information and retrieve
it from the library’s e-resources. In “source”, a book is also cited, and you can find the
book on the topic to use for a paper. Second, if you find a Wikipedia entry that seems interesting,
always verify it with your course readings or textbook. A course textbook will provide
general overviews on a topic and you can compare Wikipedia’s information with information
from your course to ensure accuracy. For example, in the Roman Art entry, it states that Polygnotos
was a famous Greek artist known for his wall murals. In the book, History of Painting for
a Roman Art History course, it states that Polygnotos was known for painting, including
wall murals. Third, Wikipedia can give a good overview but it can also give you an idea
of keywords you can try in the library catalogue or databases. For example, in the Roman Art
entry there is a discussion on periods for paintings during that time, and I find a link
leading me to a description and names of the different styles during that period. So let’s
do a recap, Wikipedia is a great tool if you want to get a quick overview on a topic but
not so great for citing in your course assignments because the information may be unreliable
and it is not scholarly. However, Wikipedia can lead you to some books and articles that
may be more credible in the reference or source list. If you’re not sure about the information,
check with your course materials and if you want to find books in the library on the topic,
read the Wikipedia entry and get ideas for keywords. If you need more help, feel free
to contact a librarian at your university, they are more than happy to help!