“Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade”

John T. Carr
September 17, 2009
Reading 2
“Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade”
Brock Read
Chronicle of Higher Education 10/27/2006

The article main purpose is to see if Wikipedia could ever be used as a reliable source or not. Wikipedia is similar to an online encyclopedia. Many people think it’s not a great source or reference for anything because anyone can update or alter the information. On the other side other claim it has been said that it is 90% correct just like encyclopedia. Speaking from my own experience my friends and I once tried to update a search ourselves. As soon as it was submitted, about two minutes later it changed back to its originally form because of the information we put in was wrong. Wikipedia stays updating its site continually. Wiki knows that people are doing that so there regularly updates are plus to keep the site operating.
I feel personally that Wikipedia is a source that you can use in research. If you are to use it as a resource just be sure to cross reference it. I do that with all sources. It’s just like an encyclopedia so either one is not a source any scholarly paper that I do will not be accepted as a reliable source. I use wiki about everyday to first get a glimpse of something I’m looking for. It’s fast and easy and since I started using it, hasn't given the correct information. From something scholarly I wouldn’t use because wiki doesn’t provide any material like that. To me it gives you a general background for you to start your information. One last fact that this article shows is that Britannica Encyclopedia has one less error that wiki does.