Should Students be Able to Cite Wikis?

    As a student we have lots of decisions to make about what kind of resources that we can cite. On the one hand you could cite a source that is not good information or you can cite a source that has good information. I feel that if the information is creditable then there is no problem using a wiki for a resource. The problem with that is if the information is creditable. A wiki is a web site that is based on the wisdom of crowds, which means that any one person can change the information that is available.

    Web sites like Wikipedia have lots of pros and cons. Some of the things that you read on Wikipedia is good info and some other stuff is bad information. Wikipedia does have a team of editors to look over the content that is added and also adding content themselves. This is to say that they will let people edit the information, but they will review this change before they publish it. I think that when it comes to general information or something that is not very important it is okay to use a wiki. Simple information like the birth date of a famous person or the particular species of a plant is the best kind of information that you can find on Wikipedia. One of the greatest things about wikis is that they keep updating this information to keep up with current events and updated information.

    The down side to using wikis for a resource is the editing process. Anyone can come in and change a piece of information that could be wrong. This wrong change could take a while to fix and you could get the information wrong. Editors could be anyone from your own five year old child to someone who is an expert in their field. Another thing about a wiki is someone can vandalize information, either by putting in bias information or deleting important information or even erasing the entire page itself.

    So if you decide to use the information that you find on a wiki be careful to check where the information originated from. Wikis can still be used as a good source of information as long as you make sure that the information is creditable. Don't just think that anything is right always double check the information that you receive.