Librarians versus Wikipedia, the debate rages on. There appears to be two predominant camps; those who love it and those who loathe it. I make this assumption based on the amount of messages I receive daily via the library mailing list I subscribe to.
I won’t go into the pros and cons of user generated content as I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, but you might be interested in recent comments from Niko Pfund, Vice President and Publisher of the Academic and Trade division of Oxford University Press in New York:
“I’m actually increasingly bored by this question of whether Wikipedia is good or bad, and even more so by the easy vilification of it…Oxford English Dictionary, arguably the greatest reference work in the English language (and certainly the greatest reference work ABOUT the English language) found its origins in a wiki model…”
I always think of Wikipedia as something of a ‘problem child’; one that needs nurturing, direction and support, rather than damnation from its parents, the qualified information professionals. I don’t think it should be perceived as the ultimate source for all our information needs but does it make me a bad librarian if I use it sometimes as a first port of call?
Wikipedia’s cool – hey, when you get asked the random, obscure questions we get asked, any help is good help!
Even if it just clarifies spelling, narrows a possible date range etc.
We’re all bright enough to know it’s not perfect, but it IS a perfectly good start.
I think wiki is a good, easily accessed, first point of access when checking out the meaning of a particular word or subject matter but as long as you don’t hail it as the definitive source or even the most accurate, what is the harm? As with all information on the internet the author, source, date and general authenticity should always be taken into consideration otherwise we can all become misinformed.
As long as you don’t always believe everything you read and check out authenticty then I don’t think this information source should be vilified. It is a means to a greater understanding just check out your sources further if you plan on depending on the information significantly….which I presume most people would do anyway!