POS 202: Using Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a free, multilingual encyclopedia created and maintained as an open collaboration project by a community of volunteer editors using a wiki-based editing system.

It is one of the most popular reference websites online, with millions of visitors every month. There are more than 19 million articles and 82.000 active contributors.

DO...

• use Wikipedia to become familiar with a topic or as a starting point for research
• use Wikipedia to find more search terms or keywords for your research topic
• maintain a level of skepticism when reading Wikipedia articles
• take advantage of Wikipedia's references and sources

DON'T...

• cite Wikipedia articles in your bibliography for assignments or papers
• treat information on Wikipedia as facts, especially when concerning legal or medical advice

This tutorial, created by the North Carolina State University Libraries, gives information on what wikis are and who contributes to Wikipedia.