Wiki Audit Blog

Auditing the Wikipedia article Global Warming Conspiracy Theory proved to be time consuming and enlightening. To be very honest, from the beginning I never knew that Wikipedia was written by ordinary people. I rarely used the site so I never investigated the sources prior to this assignment. As I discussed in our presentation, Wikipedia can be used as a scholarly resource only on the condition that the sources are verified. The site is not completely reliable because the articles are in continuous flux. There is an unlimited ability to alter facts and insert ficticious information. This technology may produce thousands of informative and accurate articles, but it cannot be compared to the consistancy of traditional encyclopedias. In fact, the ability to edit Wikipedia lends to the ability to alter history and cultural truths. The site satifies our desire for quick information, yet it should probably be avoided for use in serious research. The one main strength Wiki has is the availablity of many different opinions on subjects which opens doors to further research. Also, I do not want to minimize the enormous success of the project itself having created a free online encyclopedia through the contributions of volunteer writers, and its ability to educate millions of people for free. Personally, I will use Wikipedia for quick reviews of subjects and current events, and still use my library for research.