The Internet revolution? This next generation of the Internet has more and more minds connected. What happens when so many people can join together and create? This does happen on a day-to-day basis at Wikipedia, the first Internet dictionary that anyone can edit, which has become vastly popular. Is it because of good marketing, or just the fact that people love the idea that so many different minds have shaped this dictionary? Personally, I would never quote Wikipedia in a scholarly essay because I do not feel that Wikipedia is a credible source. I would trust an Encyclopaedia Britannica over Wikipedia because Bitannica has been in existence longer, and it is published annually. Reading this article entitled "Internet Encyclopaedias go Head to Head" written by Jim Giles opened my mind about the fact that Encyclopaedia Britannica also has some errors just like Wikipedia, but not nearly as many.
I think that students, especially in late elementary or junior high school really need to be taught about what is and is not a credible source on the Internet, otherwise, these children will not know valuable scholarly skills that will help them succeed using the Internet. The next generation Internet is exciting, but because there are so many websites, it is becoming harder and harder to find what is credible and what is garbage. Wikipedia is still a credible source, but not on the scholarly level. It should be reserved for quick on-line encyclopedia questions that have free answers.
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3 comments:
M, you have a good point. Another one that is interesting and related to this is the idea that Google searches need to be taken with a grain of salt. People are so desperate to be found (or their web sites found) that they will do anything to rank higher in Google searches. Although I do use Google as my main source of searching, lately it seems harder to find exactly what I am looking for. OR could it be me? My brain is wired to find the things I want to find using the search terms I WOULD USE not some web master or IT person. Mmmmm master. I love that word. ;-)
P.S. I love your new blog! Nice layout and color scheme though I think you should post more pics of yourself and friends.
I agree with your comment that people need to be taught how to evaluate online resources. Too many people believe everything they find online to be true and accurate. Its actually quite scary to think that people would consider using wikipedia as their only resource for research. With that said, i do however have a strong belief that in many cases there are enough people out there in the world ready to "fact check your @$$" when it comes to publishing to wikipedia. I just hope that the community as a whole is more intelligent than a few content vandals.
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