[WEB4LIB] Librarian: Don't use Wikipedia as source

[Edward Wigg]

"Librarian: Don't use Wikipedia as source"

Despite what the librarian in the article claims, critical thinking 
does not require you to rely on appeals to authority.

The Encyclopeadia Britannica contains errors, and the Wikipedia 
contains much that is correct. Blindly accepting something from either 
source is a mistake: editorial reputation may be a strong indicator of 
correctness, but it is no guarantee. Likewise much that is in the 
Wikipedia is correct despite its lack of editors; it may well make a 
good STARTING PLACE for finding out more on a subject. If she is 
against blind reliance on what you find on the Internet then I'm in 
agreement, but then I'm against blind reliance on printed sources too.

There is also something perverse about complaining that anyone can 
change the content of an article in a wiki -- isn't that the whole 
point?

Edward