The Great Wikipedia Freakout of 2012

[Hawaiian Eskimo]

Note: Please don't turn this into a discussion on the law. Focus on the cluelessness.

Just got this ticket in my inbox from a student, edited enough to protect the clueless:

#XXXXXXX
Name: Luser
User Note: why did you guys block wikipedia? its right in the middle of projects and everyone needs it. please unblock it. thanks.

Seriously dude? It says right on the page exactly what's going on, not that I seriously expect people to *read* anything that resembles an error message these days. "We" didn't block it. It doesn't even look remotely look like our content filter's blocked page At least he said "please" and "thanks", so I guess I can give him credit for that.

That was just the one in my inbox too. The inordinate amount of WHINING I heard when everyone realized they "can't" research their projects today, it pleases me. Because Wikipedia is totally the only source in existence.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I'm actually wondering what someone who clearly cannot or will not read even needs Wikipedia in the first place for.

I suppose you all are blocking the Google logo as well, then?

[KiaKat]

... Wikipedia is an allowed source for research papers, now?

Have these children never heard of looking things up at the library? It's all organized by subject, and fully searchable!

/getoffmylawnrant

[Jay 2K Winger]

I consider myself fortunate that we're not getting calls about this at The Client.

...then again, maybe we are, and it's just none of them have made it to me.

Yeah, the people who freak out about this are the ignorant who can't be bothered to do any more research than using Wikipedia.

I'll admit, I haven't had to do legit research in a while, but if I did, I'll go to Wikipedia first for some initial info, and then look at the sources cited and see about looking THEM up for more.

But I'm not expecting the freak-out folks to be thinking in those terms.

[Ironclad Alibi]

... Wikipedia is an allowed source for research papers, now?

Have these children never heard of looking things up at the library? It's all organized by subject, and fully searchable!

Allowed or not, kids will still use it.

As for the library, have you ever tried to copy and paste something out of a book? It's very difficult if you don't have a scanner. (Mrs. IA bought my first scanner so I could scan some textbooks for her so she could copy and paste the material. Her teacher wanted the material cited exactly in the answers to her questions.)

I feel sorry of all of you that have to deal with all the black out complaints that will be coming through this evening when everyone gets home from work and onto the Internet. I suppose the rest of us should lay in a stock of cookies, booze and bacon for you.

[Pagan]

... Wikipedia is an allowed source for research papers, now?

Have these children never heard of looking things up at the library? It's all organized by subject, and fully searchable!

/getoffmylawnrant

It's really starting to be seen as just as viable as any other source. I've seen very well-respected websites have wrong information, too.

[gremcint]

1. go to wikipedia.org
2. type your search
3. click stop before the page finishes loading and redirects you
4. read the article.

[dalesys]

I remember reading in "Ignition!" that the Chemical Rubber Handbook value for the density of liquid flourine was low by nearly a factor of two for more than twenty years after the rocket propellant scientiste made accurate measurements of kilogram quantities. (true value approximately 1.8 g/cc)

[Kheldarson]

... Wikipedia is an allowed source for research papers, now?

Have these children never heard of looking things up at the library? It's all organized by subject, and fully searchable!

/getoffmylawnrant

It really depends on your idea of allowing encyclopedias. My history prof wouldn't let us Wikipedia...or encyclopedias. But that was a citation. If you want to start there to get a basis for where you should go to research things, great, otherwise, don't cite!

[emax4]

How quick is it to look up information on Wikipedia and get the answers, compared to driving out who knows how many miles or minutes to the library, only to find the books that have the answers are taken out at the moment? I'm not bashing libraries, but not all of them are well-equipped as others.

[BlaqueKatt]

... Wikipedia is an allowed source for research papers, now?

not at most places, but it has these awesome citations in link form so the info you need is all in one place....one-stop information gathering, without having to run and find 50 different books. I used it as a starting point when doing the research for my husband's papers*

*I did not write his papers, I just did the research, gathered up numerous sources for him and he chose which ones to use. His professors said it was "a very wise use of the resources available to you", and suggested other students do the same if possible and pressed for time(hubs was a full time student with a full time job), I'm a happy research assistant, and when asked found stuff for his classmates as well, with him being in school and working, I had lots of free time

[houdini]

I work in a library and we use Wikipedia all the time! It's brilliant when you have a student who wanders up and says "uh, what's *insert obscure term here*?" I direct them to Wiki, tell them to read up on the simple version, and then point them at the books for some in-depth research that they can quote.

I have also mentioned to one or five students that if they cite Wiki in an essay, I will not be held responsible for their professor's actions, up to and including looking innocent when the police ask me where said professor has hidden the bodies.

I don't think we had any complaints over Wiki etc blacking out for a day, but there again, our students know they'll get a sweet and patronising answer if they do compain about the WWW, and then sent to IT to be patronised again. I'll give it to our students: they learn fast when it comes to what annoys a Librarian!

[Pixilated]

... Wikipedia is an allowed source for research papers, now?

Have these children never heard of looking things up at the library? It's all organized by subject, and fully searchable!

/getoffmylawnrant

It's really starting to be seen as just as viable as any other source. I've seen very well-respected websites have wrong information, too.

I've had teachers who have absolutely forbade its use, others who say it's a great starting point and one last year who seemed to think Wikipedia hangs the moon. I didn't think much of her as a teacher so for me that wasn't exactly a rousing commendation for Wikipedia.

However, I've been told by people whose opinions I respect that Wikipedia has tightened up their submission requirements a lot. I've no idea how accurate this is, but the story goes that some of the staff were ready to walk because the original idea that anybody can post anything anywhere on the site was making it a bad joke and they didn't want to work at a bad joke -- not to mention it was seriously undermining the work they themselves did. One friend has submitted one or two things to Wikipedia and said she had to fill out a lot of 'paperwork' to get her submission even looked at, never mind used.

[EricKei]

It was always my understanding that even the people *at* Wikipedia don't consider Wikipedia to be a "Source" o_O If I were researching something with the help of WP (never, EVER do serious research for a person of any real notoriety there, as you can assume that it is likely at least partially fiction due to vandalism....especially political figures), I would read the article there to get the gist, then go to the links which are invariably at the bottom of the page to do the REAL research.

Wikipedia to the rescue, ironically enough:

"Wikipedia is not considered a credible source."

Its creator agrees.

[fireheart]

Surprisingly my boyfriend did not have any calls about Wiki being down (he works for an ISP on the helpdesk).

As for the Wiki-as-a-source argument, I've done the same as other people: I'll use it to get a basic idea on the subject in question and then I'll follow the websites. If there's a credible source in there (i.e. a research paper or a link to a book) then I use it.