Reading Report #2

This article discusses the very prominent and popular online encyclopedia called Wikipedia that anyone can edit and enhance (or worsen). This has stirred up a lot of controversy and discussion over whether this should be allowed. Many professors believe only experts should contribute to the site to ensure authenticity of the information presented on Wikipedia. The article gives an example of Mr. Halavais, a teacher who purposely put misinformation into Wikipedia just to see if anyone would take it down. To his disbelief, the made up facts were taken down within a few hours, as the online encyclopedia apparently has a program that allows expert editors to read the most recently added information and can change it right away. This article then adds to the perception that Wikipedia has a tendency to give misinformation by telling the story of Mr. Seigenthaler. He was a journalist who had his own page on the site that gave some serious misinformation about him for over four months. The article admits that situations like that are very rare on the online encyclopedia and that it will never be entirely perfect.

I use Wikipedia on a regular basis and I like to think it is a relatively reliable source for information. I usually do not use it as a primary source for research paper s or anything like that, but I will use it whenever I need to find out random trivia facts about a certain person or place. After reading this article, I am much more aware of the problems that could arise from a site like this. I will definitely be a lot more careful when I use Wikipedia. One thing I did not know about Wikipedia was the program that allows their editors to change recently added information. I think this is a great idea to try to ensure authenticity. Still, it may be a good idea to find another source about the same topic somewhere else on the web that can verify the information found on Wikipedia. But for the most part, I will continue to trust Wikipedia as a reliable source of information because it is easy to use and I can find just about anything I think of on the site.