tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post8293694710389987808..comments2024-03-21T14:59:20.729-04:00Comments on NT Blog: In Defence of WikipediaMark Goodacrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05115370166754797529noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-84937796925247582222007-04-14T22:39:00.000-04:002007-04-14T22:39:00.000-04:00If I had a terminal disease, I probably wouldn't c...If I had a terminal disease, I probably wouldn't care where my doctor got his medical information.Sagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04259090314712198514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-72710930080959984132007-04-02T17:13:00.000-04:002007-04-02T17:13:00.000-04:00Wikipedia is helpful as a general intro and a gate...Wikipedia is helpful as a general intro and a gateway to other links, but it should not be used in college papers of any level.<BR/><BR/>If you had a terminal disease, would you like to know that your doctor got his medical information from Wikipedia?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-66869768260142284992007-03-29T08:26:00.000-04:002007-03-29T08:26:00.000-04:00The first comment to the Cathy Davidson piece (com...The first comment to the Cathy Davidson piece (comment by "JuliaFelix" -- a pseudonym?) had a very interesting idea of assigning topics that are merely the short, "stub" articles in Wikipedia. Of course, the comment's additional suggestion of having the students contribute the essays to Wikipedia in place of the stubs may mean render the original idea less than sustainable in the long term.Stephen C. Carlsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18239379955876245197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-64383402902097883532007-03-29T07:12:00.000-04:002007-03-29T07:12:00.000-04:00I often find wikipedia very useful. However there ...I often find wikipedia very useful. <BR/><BR/>However there are certain subjects, eg anything to do with historical jesus research where articles are liable to end-up giving undue weight to minority points of view.Andrew Criddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10529501480944256402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-77714991301644114452007-03-28T21:41:00.000-04:002007-03-28T21:41:00.000-04:00Mark, you should post this on SBL's forum, particu...Mark, <BR/><BR/>you should post this on SBL's forum, particularly given that your argument comes from the perspective of a teacher of religion.<BR/><BR/>And you're presuming that we as teachers are supposed to teach our students to think...I thought I just had to download the syllabus into their cranial hard-drives!J. B. Hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17074055343675084879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-65218247880428128732007-03-28T19:00:00.000-04:002007-03-28T19:00:00.000-04:00I don't think that banning Wikipedia is a helpful ...I don't think that banning Wikipedia is a helpful way to go (except perhaps for lower grades in high school where students don't have the necessary skills to analyse and evaluate the information). It might be more useful to say that any "fact" found on Wikipedia must be able to be substantiated from another source with academic credibility before it can be used. It certainly points students to what sorts of things people think about issues and some of it is quite accurate. The exercise of validating data would be useful. <BR/><BR/>There's a saying amongst my 16 year old daughter's friends that goes something like "Of course it's true. Everyone knows it's true. Do I have to put it on Wikipedia before you'll believe me?" This says something both about the potential problems of Wikipedia and the awareness of students about those problems.Judy Redmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04350638846246966802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-64704099147217178722007-03-28T15:57:00.000-04:002007-03-28T15:57:00.000-04:00It is unfair to say that criticisms of Wikipedia a...It is unfair to say that criticisms of Wikipedia are largely made by people who are fearful of the technology and/or don't understand it. I can be a critic of Wikipedia and yet not be fearful nor ignorant of it; likewise I could be fearful of it, yet it does not necessarily follow that I would also be critical of it.<BR/>Though I don't agree with the course of action that the folks at Middlebury decided to take, I think the basis for their decision has been unfairly judged to a certain degree. I don't think it was fear or ignorance. I think the decision was driven by the fact that faculty members were annoyed at student research laziness. Many undergrads only search Google, and only bother to look at the first 5 or so results, one of which will almost always be Wikipedia. They can't be bothered to extend their search to other electronic resources, much less print ones. Because faculty are annoyed at the laziness of student use of the internet for research, and because Google ranks Wikipedia so highly in just about every search, Wikipedia has become the representation of the larger issue of students' uncritical use of the internet for research.<BR/>Certainly I would not call for the banning of Wikipedia on the campus where I myself work. I understand Wikipedia better than most students here. And it is because I understand it so well that I tell students to use it with a great deal of caution as an academic research tool. Wikipedia is a behemoth that is ever-changing. It is difficult if not impossible to critique its overall value at any given point in time. That is why, I believe, there has been such a wide variety of opinions about its value. It's much like the elephant in the parable of the blind men and the elephant. What you think about Wikipedia largely depends upon what part of it you're "holding."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-91575193605373018502007-03-28T15:43:00.000-04:002007-03-28T15:43:00.000-04:00I will not allow wikipedia as a legitimate source ...I will not allow wikipedia as a legitimate source I will however encourage students to go there as an introduction and as a gateway to other material. I find wikipedia to be useful in that regard.Bill Victorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00121117922676676023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-44198878316760632242007-03-28T15:02:00.000-04:002007-03-28T15:02:00.000-04:00I have lost too many points in my courses by using...I have lost too many points in my courses by using wikipedia. Ive had it happen way too many times that something I read on wikipedia ended up being false. I just cant rely on wikipedia in general, though a few accurate facts may be in there as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5759844.post-37487955212230866272007-03-28T10:54:00.000-04:002007-03-28T10:54:00.000-04:00Though it pains me immensely, I am forced to disag...Though it pains me immensely, I am forced to disagree....<BR/><BR/>http://drjimwest.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/for-only-the-second-time-i-disagree-with-goodacre/<BR/><BR/>:-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com