Wikipedia

'Wikipedia is a free, web-based and collaborative multilingual encylopedia' (Wikipedia, 2009). Wikipedia has approximately 13 million articles, 3 million which are English and have been contributed by volunteers from all over the globe who have signed up to Wikipedia (Wikipedia). Wikipedia works just like a wiki, people can add and/or subtract information which means it's completely editable. This brings up the reliability of information that is posted in their millions of articles.

Because Wikipedia is not guaranteed to be total fact, I am always slightly apprehensive whenever I search for an article of interest using Wikipedia. Thomas Chesney (Anderson, 2006) who is a Lecturer at the Nottingham University Business School, concluded that although Wikipedia may be the preferred site for information, further research is encouraged before using any information in Wikipedia is actual fact.

However, Wikipedia is very convenient and could be used as one of the sources for students to take note of when they study. Students can then compare Wikipedia's information with other sources. This would encourage student's to research thoroughly and challenge them to sort through different sources of information to create a final product.

References:
Anderson N, 2006, Experts rate Wikipedia's accuracy higher than non-experts, Ars Technica, viewed 24 August 2009
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2006/11/8296.ars

Wikipedia.com 2009, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, viewed 23 August 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia