Wikipedia is not to be trusted

The last two major assignments I was given, instead of using the book (which would practiacally double or if not triple the time it takes to finish them) I used wikipedia to do them. When I got them back, both of their grades were lower than usual. I use wikipedia all the time, and this does not happen. So what happened is the people who wrote it clearly weren't proffesionals regardless of the size and organization of what the typed. I learned my lesson, I will try to cut back on my wikipedia usage for now on.
It's also strange that the searches on it that I did on subjects that I knew really well were accurate based on my knowledge.

[edit on 1-2-2007 by wildcat]

Bud,

Wikipeda is user edited. Anyone from a college professor to a 1st grader with too much free time and a computer, can make changes. If it is important, don't trust Wikipeda!

Tim



[edit on 2/2/2007 by Ghost01]

Here's a thought - no single source should be trusted. I use Wikipedia all the time. I think it's a great place to start researching a particular subject. Sometimes the external links cited can be extremely helpful.

Whoever graded your paper probably knows enough to check Wikipedia about a particular topic to see how extensively it was used in your preparation. Is it possible you were marked down for relying too heavily on Wikipedia?

If the lesson you learned was to not rely too heavily on Wikipedia, or any one particular source, then congratulations. That's progress.

[Edit for typo]

[edit on 2/2/2007 by yeahright]

if you're going to use wikipedia, I think the best thing to do is use the references at the end of an entry, rather than the entry itself.

No, I was marked wrong because of non important points. I had some, but the majority of them weren't major. Wikipedia didn't have the info my professor wanted. So it missed out on some major data.



[edit on 2-2-2007 by wildcat]

[edit on 2-2-2007 by wildcat]

Look for something with references when it comes to something you are going to get graded on.

Wikipedia is just one source try finding many