I had difficulty deciding what page to edit. I considered creating a page for my tiny high school, which currently does not have a page. I also considered reviewing, editing, and adding information to pages lacking in length by conducting my own research. Another option was adding to the page about carillon, taking knowledge from my two semesters of studying the little-known instrument. I finally decided that I would create and edit a page about me. Not out of vanity, but because I am confident that I only have the authority to comment on myself. I do not know enough about any particular subject to edit articles that will be read and used as references for many students and adults around the world.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Editing Wikipedia - ER
Having been asked to edit Wikipedia, I was immediately shocked. I began to consider various potential pages that I have some knowledge on. I began considering which page I should edit. My mind gave a mental check at that point, and I realized that I am nowhere near qualified to edit a page on Wikipedia. I realized that the quality of Wikipedia can never be guaranteed, as each page can be edited by at least a few people who are not experts in that field. This began a mental discussion of whether or not Wikipedia can be used as a reliable scholarly source, to which I concluded that no, it cannot. Wikipedia has become the crutch of unmotivated students, and should not be seen as a tool for collegiate writing. Just this afternoon, Wikipedia's server went down, rendering its tools useless internationally. On the Wikipedia technical blog page, one user, Jimmy, commented: "We remember Thursday, March 25, 2010 as the day every English speaking student failed their research papers." Humorous, but a grain of truth runs through this comment.
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So coincidental! I talked about creating/editing a page about my high school too! It seems that through many posts, we all agree that we would prefer to edit something that we each have first hand experience with. I hadn't thought of making a page about myself. I understand you reasoning behind the idea though. I agree that "you should know yourself the best." So it makes sense that only you could provide the best expertise about you. However I personally would not want to make a page about myself simply because i would feel exposed and impersonal if my life was made so public.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that Wikipedia went down for a number of hours on this day, as I was trying to use it to gain a foundation of knowledge for a project I was working on. I am writing my paper four about whether or not Wikipedia is a credible source, which is also a relation to your post. And finally, in my post, I would choose to edit the page about my high school. I have many connections to your post, which I think is interesting. I also like your point about how you would create a page of yourself, just because you are the one that would be qualified to edit it. Very creative.
ReplyDeleteI feel that you are not giving yourself enough credit. I believe that although to some Wikipedia is not a reliable source, it is an excellent starting point in order to find information on certain topic. Having said this, I would like to point out that Wikipedia is only due to the contributions of those who were confident to post information. Without the will to post information on a wikipedia page, most of the information present there would not be found. the Fact that anyone can post makes it a good source for general knowledge as well as what popular beliefs are.
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