Wikipedia

I would hazard a guess that only the most remote and/or poorest people on Earth have not heard of Wikipedia.

Created in 2001 by Jimmy Wales, it is a free online encyclopedia to which anyone can contribute. It has had it's share of criticism over the years, and I would  be remiss as a librarian in an academic institution not to spout the party line of 'don't trust or cite Wikipedia in your assignments'. In fact their very own 'About Wikipedia' page does warn that the site can be prone to vandalism and misinformation as can newer articles recently created.

However, Wikipedia does have some useful points in its favour, besides being free. One is that articles are continually updated, so the most recent information will be included in a wiki entry. Another is that it is a kind of peer review process - if the information is not of high enough quality, the admin for that page will pull it down. Even the newness of some entries are a mark in its favour.

Anecdotally speaking, I remember not long after a college shooting in the States, people were updating an entry into the shooting as it was happening. [citation needed] (ha ha). Readers were saying it was more up-to-date than the news in reporting the events.

Another anecdote I am unable to cite as it was part of a presentation into teaching I attended last year, a lecturer at Macquarie University related how she used Wikipedia with her students. Their assignment was to get information ONTO Wikipedia by editing a specific entry. There was some sort of prize for anyone who was successful. They almost invariably raged at how they weren't successful.

When I teach classes, I do suggest to my students that if they need background information, then Wikipedia is okay, but to confirm that with other readings. However, there are a few pages that can be used in library instruction, although some of them are more in-depth than I would want to use with neophytes.

These are:
- Library Reference Desk
- Research
- Boolean
- Databases
- Evaluating sources
- Referencing

If I think of any way in particular I could use Wikipedia in my classes, I will update this post.

Wikis pt. 1

Having infrequently used a Wiki for work purposes, I know they are not entirely simple to use as originally thought – that is if you want to format the appearance to include bullet points, tables and headings. However, having said that, the Internet in its bounty provides if you ask. Here are some links to some cheat sheets I’ve used before. If you’ve had a little experience with HTML coding in the past (or present) it will be a lot easier for you.

Wikipedia cheat sheet
 

Wikipedia mark up
 

Wiki markup tables
 

However, the ease in which one can create a space through which multiple contributors can create a page of information is invaluable. The challenge for educators, as it ever is, is to devise solid assessment tasks, criteria and marking. I am currently toying with the idea for a class of which I teach for 6 weeks to create an ongoing wiki of how to research with the library.

To ensure the success of the wiki one would of course need to ensure all students;
1. Know what a wiki is
2. Know how to use and edit the wiki
3. Monitor the wiki for unintentional deletions, inappropriate comments and intentionally incorrect information.
4. Carefully lay out to the students the criteria for marking the wiki exercise.

I know from prior reading and experience that peer based instruction is often more valuable than straight instruction from an educator. At this point, it is an idea only, one of which I will be investigating further, probably without too much difficulty if my quick Google Scholar search has indicated. Any experiences, both positive and negative, you would like to share with me would be gratefully received and I will let you know in a follow up post what I find. Kind of like a building a Wiki (^_^)