Wikipedia POLICY https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines
On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 12:54 PM Paul S. Wilson <[email protected]> wrote: > > Not "individual practices"; this is an English Wikipedia Policy: > > >Do not use articles from Wikipedia (whether this English Wikipedia or > >Wikipedias in other languages) as sources. Also, do not use websites that > >mirror Wikipedia content or publications that rely on material from > >Wikipedia as sources. Content from a Wikipedia article is not considered > >reliable unless it is backed up by citing reliable sources. Confirm that > >these sources support the content, then use them directly.[11] (There is > >also a risk of circular reference/circular reporting when using a Wikipedia > >article or derivative work as a source.) > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Wikipedia_and_sources_that_mirror_or_use_it > > On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 12:24 PM Kathleen DeLaurenti > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi all - > > > > Thanks for the responses. Regardless of our individual practices, I don't > > see any good coming from Wikipedia positively asserting that it should > > "never be cited," and that's the crux of my concern here. > > > > Best, > > > > Kathleen > > > > On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 1:17 PM Paul S. Wilson <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >> I have never considered user-generated content on Wikipedia to be more > >> than what librarians call a "discovery service". > >> > >> Briefly skimming an article on a subject l may know little about, I > >> invariably evaluate the sources rather than the text and hit the cited > >> references. In my 15-year experience, even the weakest and most apparently > >> biased articles have at least a few refs that lead to citable sources and > >> larger literature. > >> > >> > >> On Thu, Sep 26, 2019, 11:54 AM Merrilee Proffitt <[email protected]> > >> wrote: > >>> > >>> Hi, > >>> > >>> I completely agree with Kathleen. I would assert that it is a lack of > >>> nuance around the nature of information sources and the research task at > >>> hand that has lead educators and others to wholesale "ban" the use of > >>> Wikipedia. > >>> > >>> Whether or not a source can be utilized in a research context depends on > >>> the researcher, and what information they are supporting with the > >>> citation. For my middle school daughter doing some investigation on an > >>> element in the periodic table (as she has been doing this week), the > >>> Wikipedia English article (or any encyclopedia article) is appropriate > >>> for her. For a graduate student in chemistry this would not be > >>> appropriate, but the grad student might (appropriately) cite Wikipedia > >>> for some basic definitional stuff, just as they might cite a dictionary > >>> or something similar. You see Wikipedia utilized appropriately in > >>> citations all the time -- why would we discourage this? > >>> > >>> Having conversations about the veracity of online information is tough. > >>> Wikipedia can be challenging because articles are at various levels of > >>> development. To my mind, this makes it something that those of us engaged > >>> in conversations around information literacy should steer towards, rather > >>> than away from, because a) Wikipedia is widely utilized in a variety of > >>> contexts and b) it is a great teaching tool for talking about when you > >>> can trust information online and when you should steer clear. But saying > >>> "no" to any information source without having a discussion about it seems > >>> lazy. It definitely does not reflect the type of discourse we should be > >>> having, especially now. > >>> > >>> I look forward to more discussion on this topic. > >>> > >>> Merrilee > >>> > >>> On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 9:02 AM Federico Leva (Nemo) <[email protected]> > >>> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> Twitter doesn't facilitate reasoned arguments. I suppose as usual the > >>>> goal was to encourage greater use of the references and other > >>>> meta-content of Wikipedia articles, which are excellent tools for > >>>> critical thinking. > >>>> > >>>> Federico > >>>> > >>>> Kathleen DeLaurenti, 26/09/19 17:55: > >>>> > Hi all - > >>>> > > >>>> > As a librarian who uses and supports Wikipedia, I wanted to bring up > >>>> > some issues around the BuzzFeed article posted today about M-Journal > >>>> > that has led to some messaging from the WikipediaUK twitter account > >>>> > that > >>>> > I find concerning. I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to > >>>> > bring this up, but I wasn't sure where else to reach out. > >>>> > > >>>> > For those who missed, a citation cite is not manufacturing journal > >>>> > articles if a student submits a Wiki article so that it looks like an > >>>> > "official" citation in their school research papers. > >>>> > https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/wikipedia-fake-academic-journal?bftw&utm_term=4ldqpfp#4ldqpfp > >>>> > > >>>> > Clearly there are some nefarious potential uses here, but what's more > >>>> > concerning is that the WikiUK twitter account has come forward > >>>> > forcefully saying that Wikipedia shouldn't be cited in the literature. > >>>> > Period. > >>>> > https://twitter.com/wikimediauk/status/1177215917534711808 > >>>> > > >>>> > I work very hard to improve the cite through my courses and academic > >>>> > advocacy as do many librarians. It's concern to me to see Wikipedia > >>>> > undermining its own authority in such a public way in what appears to > >>>> > be > >>>> > a misguided attempt to deflect association with the MJournal site. > >>>> > > >>>> > Would welcome any insight or ideas on how to navigate this discussion. > >>>> > The entire M-Journal use case exists, imho, because we are still > >>>> > battling for a critical (not blanket acceptance) view of Wiki as a > >>>> > resources, and I find this kind of public statement to be very damaging > >>>> > to the hard work so many are doing to create a quality information > >>>> > resource. > >>>> > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> Libraries mailing list > >>>> [email protected] > >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Libraries mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Libraries mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Libraries mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries _______________________________________________ Libraries mailing list [email protected] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/libraries
