Using Wikipedia As A Source of Information

I oftenly use Wikipedia for reference and history informations. I like every data that it provides to the web users as its complete, has pictures and most of all 99% accurate. I mostly use it as a search engine rather than anything else.

I often use Wikipedia. I find that Wikipedia excels most at popular culture references. If you want to know the actor who played Meathead on All in the Family or what other band the drummer for Jane's Addiction played for, Wiki is by far the best source. If you are writing a serious research report or a term paper for school, it is probably best to stick with more formal and traditional sources of information. Sometimes the information in Wikipedia is bogus. When I was researching for my trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I read the Wiki entry for the country. Under 'sports,' the article mentioned the popular 'pesce de cobri' or Copperfish which was supposed to be the most popular gamefish in Rio. Once I got there and asked around, I was surprised to find that there is no such thing! I ended up feeling rather foolish over that one.

I use Wikipedia frequently. I find that the information is mostly fairly reliable, sometimes biased but often less biased than other sites. It generally gives me, at least, a starting point from which to do other research. I would probably not quote a Wikipedia article per se as a source (except where I could reasonably expect that that is all the information that someone requires) but most reputable articles do quote their sources. I would examine those - and possibly do more research based on search terms they suggest. On the whole, I find that most of Wikipedia is as reliable as most sources can be. There are just a few subjects where I would not be wholly confident that the writer is not biased ... but you cannot be sure of the bias of, for example, Encyclopaedia Britannica or any other encyclopaedia or writing, either! It is good to carry salt around with you.

I always use wikipedia. It provides a plethora of information as opposed to paid encyclopedia sites that give you a paragraph on something and then anything relatively new is not even in their online encyclopedia.