Wikipedia: is it reliable?

Wikipedia is a site designed to provide information to students. The basic function of Wikipedia is to help students for exams and other papers they have to write. Some students for their research use Wikipedia as a source. There comes a problem with the accuracy of this information. Many schools or colleges are banning Wikipedia from their list because the information is not correct. We should not use Wikipedia because it is not reliable because of the privacy and because of the copyright of the information.

Wikipedia should not be used because it is not reliable. According to J.Wolverton (2007, para.9), “launched Jan, 15 2001, it is already the ninth most popular web site in the United States, according to Alexa Internet, a company that monitors web traffic". Wikipedia is among the famous web sites in the United States and is really popular. However, all the information or articles that are conveyed into Wikipedia are irrelevant. Many people are complaining about the accuracy of the information if it comes from Wikipedia. Many colleges and schools are banning Wikipedia from their list because the accuracy about the information is not right. According to M.Byers(2007, para. 1), “Middlebury College, a prestigious liberal arts school in Vermont, recently announced that its history department had banned the citation of Wikipedia for history papers and exams”. Wikipedia has become a real phenomenon that many critics have complained about.

Second, Wikipedia should not be used because of the privacy of the information. What makes Wikipedia worst today is the copyright of the information. Most of the articles and the information on wikipedia are not true and irrelevant. Wikipedia has become an open library where everybody can post anything they want. According to J.Lengel (2006, para.1), “Anyone can post anything they want on the web”. Many professors do not recommend students to use Wikipedia as a source because of the reliability of their information. If anybody can post anything on Wikipedia, then the copyright of the information is not revealed and can’t be taken into consideration because we don’t know where this information comes from. People have been hijacking Wikipedia because it was available online. Therefore, Wikipedia is public site that allows anybody to do whatever he or she wants with.

Finally, Wikipedia should not be used because of the copyright. Everybody can post anything they want at anytime on Wikipedia and there is no chance that you can verify the accuracy of the information. Teachers refuse students use it because they might be accused of plagiarism. It offers a lot of information but where are the sources to verify this information? The copyright of information is important because it helps determine who is the author of those articles or that information. Wikipedia does not offer all these but just gives you information. That what makes Wikipedia a really weak encyclopedia that we should not use as a source.

In conclusion, we should not use Wikipedia, even though it offers us a lot of choices and gives us a lot of information. It is not reliable, and we have many critics that go in toward that site.

Reference
Byers, M . (2007, March 08). Controversy over use of Wikipedia in academic papers arrives at Smith. Sophian, Smith College. Retrieved April 23,2008, from http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2007/03/08/news/Controversy.Over.Use.Of.Wikipedia.In.Academic.Papers.Arrives.At.Smith-2765409.html

Lengel, J. (2006, Feb 07). Auhtority. Teaching with Technology. Retrieved April 23,2008, from http://www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/articles.shtml?ID=12"

Wolverton, J. (2007, Jan.22). Wikipedia Wisdom. Valley Vanguard. Retrieved April 23,2008, from http://www.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/114"