How today’s college students use Wikipedia for course–related research
by Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg.
First Monday, Volume 15, Number 3 - 1 March 2010
http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2830/2476. My take-away from the report of this large survey of students on six campuses is that students depend LESS on Wikipedia than we have feared. Head and Eisenberg note "Wikipedia’s information utility is tied to four Cs it delivers — currency, coverage, comprehensibility, and convenience." They report that students may begin their research with Wikipedia, but don't end their research with Wikipedia. Whew! I can sleep easy tonight. ;) (I wonder if those of us in information literacy can take any credit for warning students about the potential for inaccurate information in Wikipedia - or if our warnings have just been a result of our fears that students are gullible.)
(Thanks to Bernie Sloan for sending along a reference this article on the JESSE discussion list.)
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