[Air-l] Wikipedia warning -- Wikipedia is not a reliable information source

[Steinberger Peter]

To be consequent you have to ban all other internet sources too. And all the
magazines that are peer reviewed too, because lately they made some major
mistakes too. Yes i am polemic.

You correctly say that: It is as easy to change an article for the worse as
for the better. 
Well why didn't Mr Siegenthaler change it to the better by himself? He used
all the power of old media (and he is very powerful) to discredit new media.
And you are jumping on the bandwagon, as if the credibility concerns are
something new. But apparently it takes the power of the New York Times...
This is a different discussion.

> If enough of us prohibit Wikipedia as a reference source in 
> our courses, programs, and schools, the message will 
> eventually get through.
And by the way, what is the message that will eventually get through?
Trust no one except your teacher???

I suggest its better to discuss the problem with the students than to simply
ban a source. Personally I think using Wikipedia as the only source, as it
is with any single source, is bad scientific style. And this problem can not
be solved by prohibiting Wikipedia. But maybe I understand the teachers job
wrong.

Best regards, peter




> -----Original Message-----
> From: air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org 
> [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Ken Friedman
> Sent: Sonntag, 04. Dezember 2005 20:02
> To: air-l at aoir.org
> Subject: [Air-l] Wikipedia warning -- Wikipedia is not a 
> reliable information source
> 
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> This letter is a suggestion that you address the problem of 
> bad information in student papers from an increasingly poor source: 
> Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not getting better. It is getting 
> worse. One reason for this is the apparent case that the 
> status of Wikipedia as a much-used reference resource makes 
> it the target of opportunity for hoax efforts that would 
> never enter an edited reference text.
> 
> There are now enough serious incidents of false and 
> defamatory information in Wikipedia biographies to warrant 
> prohibiting this as a reference source in universities and 
> university-level professional schools. The same is true of 
> inaccurate or false assertions in many articles.
> 
> The problem with Wikipedia is not that the Wiki system MAY 
> develop a solid and reliable reference work, but that in the 
> current form, it DOES NOT. It is as easy to change an article 
> for the worse as for the better.
> 
> Nearly any university student today has access to a decent 
> library and good on-line reference texts. In addition, anyone 
> willing to search a bit will also fine outstanding SIGNED 
> references sources by major scholars in many fields, as well 
> as useful albeit older versions of respected references 
> source no longer covered by copyright.
> 
> The current scandal concerning a false and defamatory 
> biography of Robert Kennedy aide and friend John Siegenthaler 
> (see below) and similar recent cases lead me to conclude that 
> Wikipedia has no way to prevent problems like this from 
> happening. This is made worse by the fact that Wikipedia is 
> an automatic flow-through resource for other on-line sources.
> 
> Wikipedia is unacceptable as a research tool.
> 
> I have informed my students that they may no longer use 
> Wikipedia as a reference or source on papers in my courses. I 
> urge you to consider a similar statement. While Wikipedia may 
> be a useful first step in seeking information, I no longer 
> accept it as a credible source. 
> Therefore, I advise students to look further when a project 
> requires a reliable source.
> 
> Use of Wikipedia by students and researchers is an important 
> validation mechanism for Wikipedia.
> 
> If enough of us prohibit Wikipedia as a reference source in 
> our courses, programs, and schools, the message will 
> eventually get through.
> 
> When it does, Wikipedia will find an appropriate way to 
> monitor contributions. If they do not, the reputation of 
> Wikipedia will sink to that of another crank web site.
> 
> Yours,
> 
> Ken Friedman
> 
> The Siegenthaler case in the New York Times and USA Today via Yahoo:
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/weekinreview/04seelye.html
> 
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051130/cm_usatoday/afalsewi
> kipediabiography
> 
> -- 
> 
> Ken Friedman
> Professor of Leadership and Strategic Design Institute for 
> Communication, Culture, and Language Norwegian School of Management
> 
> Design Research Center
> Denmark's Design School
> 
> email: ken.friedman at bi.no
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