Furniture Store

Many a student has struggled to find a valid and credible source to site for their scholarly writings. The question in this digital age of modern technology is can we trust everything we read on the internet? In the case of Wikipedia I would have to firmly state no. While Wikipedia is often cited as a source of information I firmly believe the information in Wikipedia is often wrong and biased. As for credibility Wikipedia’s own web site cast doubt on this fact with the tag line “ The free encyclopedia anyone can edit”. This fact alone should give pause to any serious writer looking for a credible and verifiable source of information.

According to Spatt (2011), In order for a source to be credible you the writer must first know the origin of the information, the author’s bias and something about the expertise and authority of the author. This is simply not very practical while searching Wikipedia. With millions of internet users world wide the probability of discerning these facts is next to impossible. Even if one can discern the author’s bias and authority, with the virtual cloak the internet provides, it is quite possible the information presented is not necessarily correct.

The "Wikipedia:about" (n.d.) website indicates that much of Wikipedia’s information is supposedly fact checked. That said the site goes on to boast “Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles (except in certain cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism). Users can contribute anonymously, under a pseudonym, or with their real identity, if they choose.” With rules like this it is unlikely that many facts could be checked.

According to "Wikipedia:about" (n.d.), “What is contributed is more important than the expertise or qualifications of the contributor. “ This statement again raises serious doubts about the...