|  | | 
03-19-2009, 01:04 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tyneside, UK | | | Does Wikipedia get an unfair press?
Sign in to disble this ad
Seems to me like there's a lot of hate towards Wikipedia.
But for all that there ARE abuses (I'm not going to lie about that), there are a majority who contribute sensible, well-thought out articles and corrections to articles.
So, does Wikipedia actually DESERVE the bad press it gets?
__________________
Mediocre Bassist Club #706 P&W Club #71 LGBT #26 Keyboardist #40 Quote:
Originally Posted by LowDown Hal  Bass Players - Do It Deep | |
03-19-2009, 01:09 AM
|  | OVNIFX
EXAR pedals rep for North & Central America | | Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: PDX, OR | | | About as much as Youtube deserves the bad press it gets. |
03-19-2009, 01:11 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia | | | Wikipedia is a natural phenomenon of the information age. People gave libraries and books bad press back in the day. Just cause some educational nazis want to shut something down for bad info that gets doesn't negate it's worth
I have seen bad info everywhere, in every text book, but I have to use those and not wikipedia when I cite my sources. I put in a works cited once (and I'm not joking): "This information is out on the internet and easily accessible. if you're too lazy to find it yourself, tell me, and I'll just be too lazy to write papers."
Needless to say, that didn't go over very well.
__________________
Returned in a limited capacity due to noise
|
03-19-2009, 01:22 AM
|  | Holy Ghost filled Bass Player Moderator | | Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Heber Springs, Arkansas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bongomania About as much as Youtube deserves the bad press it gets. | 
__________________
Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you want.
45 year old freshman
|
03-19-2009, 05:16 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Madison, NJ | | | Wikipedia is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest resource on the internet.
Notice the last part: the internet. It needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Never trust one resource, do thorough research.
My college speaks down on Wikipedia but I've found it to be just as accurate, if not MORE accurate than some of the professional journalism I've read lately. I've seen some major articles with misinformed statements.
__________________
- Timothy P. Lyons
Your Neighborhood Friendly Candyman
|
03-19-2009, 06:13 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Wilmington, NC | | | I really, really like Wikipedia. I wouldn't use it as my only source of information for something I was researching, but I wouldn't do that with any other source either. As far as just wanting to look something up out of curiosity, it's wonderful.
Something I've done before for professors who won't let me use it as a source for a paper: A lot of the articles have sources cited at the bottom, so if I want to use a bit of information from Wikipedia, I just credit the source that bit was credited to in the Wikipedia article, or if the sources are available online I'll use Wikipedia to help me find additional sources for the paper.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by Munjibunga I have found that, in the long run, TalkBass is the very best place to get legal advice. | Quote:
Originally Posted by steve21 i'm planning on giving somebody HIV soon | |
03-19-2009, 06:19 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Eh? | | | The well-written articles have many great sources. If I'm searching on something I'm not familiar with, it's great because I get the general idea from Wikipedia, and then move on to the more complex references.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by tom once dead Also to prove my Australianism, I've been stung by an irukandji jellyfish before, while snorkelling at an island looking at stingrays. | |
03-19-2009, 06:19 AM
| | | Quote:
Originally Posted by tplyons Wikipedia is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest resource on the internet.
Notice the last part: the internet. It needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Never trust one resource, do thorough research.
My college speaks down on Wikipedia but I've found it to be just as accurate, if not MORE accurate than some of the professional journalism I've read lately. I've seen some major articles with misinformed statements. |
+1 I've done a few searches in my area of expertise (statistics, experimental design) and found the definitions, articles, and explanations very good and virtually all accurate.
Your point of never totally trusting one resource is the key, whether that one resource is a person, a book, or Wikipedia.
It seems pretty good to me as either a quick source to check on other information, or a quick starting point to a more in-depth search of a topic.
IMO! |
03-19-2009, 06:22 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Eh? | | What was this study where they compared the error rate of Wikipedia and Encyclopaedia Britannica?
Found it: http://news.cnet.com/Study-Wikipedia...3-5997332.html
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by tom once dead Also to prove my Australianism, I've been stung by an irukandji jellyfish before, while snorkelling at an island looking at stingrays. | |
03-19-2009, 06:37 AM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vortex of sin and degradation | | | There is a lot of good information on Wikipedia but, for politics and religion,
it is downright disinformational. |
03-19-2009, 06:40 AM
|  | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote:
Originally Posted by L-A | But nobody does serious study on a subject using any encyclopedia !! 
It compounds the error by being so ubiquitous and easy - every google search throws up Wiki links - it's almost like a conspiracy...  ?
__________________
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
Charles Mingus |
03-19-2009, 06:44 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: London UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield But nobody does serious study on a subject using any encyclopedia !! | Isn't that a separate issue? Quote: |
It compounds the error by being so ubiquitous and easy - every google search throws up Wiki links - it's almost like a conspiracy... ?
| Study methodology is a different issue from the availability of a particular resource and its accuracy. You seem to be blaming Wikipedia for bad study habits.
__________________
Pics of my gear. Quote: |
Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker you're nothing but a **** stirring troll | Set your expectations accordingly.
|
03-19-2009, 08:03 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: somewhere in middle America | | If you get your info on teh interw3b, it's only valid for interw3b debates. A lot of the info is extremely biased and not particularly well researched. The info regarding politics is pretty sad. Then again, I believe in accuracy, not spins to get my point across. Still, it's funny when people try to attack my medical info when I have a fer real PhD and they graduated from Google University.  |
03-19-2009, 08:12 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote:
Originally Posted by spade2you Still, it's funny when people try to attack my medical info when I have a fer real PhD and they graduated from Google University. | Well this is the real point - so people wouldn't expect to question a surgeon performing an operation - but they are quite happy to think that having read about it on Wikipseudopoda, means they are suddenly qualified to comment on anything! 
__________________
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
Charles Mingus |
03-19-2009, 08:34 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: somewhere in middle America | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield Well this is the real point - so people wouldn't expect to question a surgeon performing an operation - but they are quite happy to think that having read about it on Wikipseudopoda, means they are suddenly qualified to comment on anything! | Pretty much. I think the new age of web dwellers simply love to argue and it's seldom hard to find articles on the web that will express your own POV so you can win yet another debate on the net, as if it counted for anything. |
03-19-2009, 08:58 AM
|  | Eat at Joe's | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: J-Actionville, NC | | | FWIW, I think they do. The idea that people use the internet to actually research stuff (espescially people) that contradict the "common knowledge" is frightening to those that propogate the nonsense that passes for information in a lot of places. I go there often, and almost every article has a warning saying something about the content if it is not footnoted and verified, if it seems to be prejudicial or needs clarification. If you use any one source for your info chances are you run the risk of getting bum scoop, but as a tool I think wiki gets a bad rap and I like it anyway.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by jive1 .....It's sorta like a man complaining that a tampon doesn't fit him. | |
03-19-2009, 09:03 AM
|  | The Lowdown Diggler | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Huntington Beach, CA | | Quote:
Originally Posted by bongomania About as much as Youtube deserves the bad press it gets. | LMAO. Bongo, you've been on a roll lately.  |
03-19-2009, 09:09 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote:
Originally Posted by lousybassplayer ..but as a tool I think wiki gets a bad rap and I like it anyway. | I think this is the big problem - people LIKE Wiki, as it is easy to use - with no regard to whether it is the best or most appropriate source!
__________________
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
Charles Mingus |
03-19-2009, 09:11 AM
| | The Lowdown Diggler | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Huntington Beach, CA | | | I think this thread is a veiled attempt for Fassa to brag about her Wiki posts in an attempt to get Brucey to rip out his O2 nasal cannula and raise his cane at all the young whippersnappers standing on his lawn. |
03-19-2009, 09:12 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: London UK | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield I think this is the big problem - people LIKE Wiki, as it is easy to use - with no regard to whether it is the best or most appropriate source! | Kinda like anything else in life, including Talkbass?
__________________
Pics of my gear. Quote: |
Originally Posted by FL Knifemaker you're nothing but a **** stirring troll | Set your expectations accordingly.
| | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off | | | |
