Why WIKI ?

Gone those days, when "google it" was my favorite phrase? Just try to google anything you like, and you will end up with millions of crap results. Last night I was googling an article for my college assignment and everytime I landed on booksellers site.Now try Wikipedia, everything you ought to know is here.

Launched in 2001, Wikipedia is now the largest reference Web site on the Internet, but users of the free online encyclopedia should take care to use Wikipedia wisely.(Why,I will explain it later)

"The name Wikipedia is a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia." "Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers from all around the world. With rare exceptions, its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet." (Source: Wikipedia: About.)

Interestingly Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation

"Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, says he wants to get the message out to college students that they shouldn't use it for class projects or serious research."

To its credit, Wikipedia acknowledges its limitations. Wikipedia spokesperson Sandra Ordonez advises, “Wikipedia is the ideal place to start your research and get a global picture of a topic, however, it is not an authoritative source. In fact, we recommend that students check the facts they find in Wikipedia against other sources. Additionally, it is generally good research practice to cite an original source when writing a paper, or completing an exam. It’s usually not advisable, particularly at the university level, to cite an encyclopedia.”

Criticism of Wikipedia:

Notable criticisms include that its open nature makes it unauthoritative and unreliable, that it exhibits systemic bias, and that its group dynamics hinder its goals. Specific and oft-heard criticisms include the encyclopedia's exposure to obvious or subtle vandalism, attempts by strongly opinionated editors to dominate articles, inaccurate or sometimes non-existent sourcing for controversial assertions in articles, and edit wars and other types of nonconstructive conflict among editors.Particularly noteworthy controversies about Wikipedia's content and editors have attracted wide and unfavorable media attention.

Not everything on Wikipedia is accurate but there is so much information on almost every topic possible. Don’t know about something, just look it up on Wikipedia and within a few minutes you can be informed.