Wikipedia has undoubtedly changed the information landscape in a dramatic way. Just four years ago when I became a teacher-librarian many people, myself included, were telling the students to NEVER use Wikipedia when researching. The students were able to rote tell us that it included a lot of inappropriate and incorrect content. However, the reality continued that it was the first place they looked and they saw their parents (and many teachers) look when doing a simple google search. Plus there is the reality that as soon as you tell students not to do something, there will be some that become immediately interested! As Harris states, “Educators need to understand that students will go to Coogle and will use Wikipedia outside of school if not inside, no matter what alternatives we provide. It is in their best interests and ours to provide students with the intellectual tools for assessing what they find in those places “(2011, p.31).

Fast forward four years and I tell my students that it can be a useful place to start research as it will not only provide lots of information, but it can provide links to lots of credible, reliable and useful websites on a given topic. However, they still know that it is not a source I would expect to see in a reference list. Also, because I teach primary school students we often talk about how the content is not written in language that is always easy to comprehend for their age. Then I launch into the wonders of our online resources including Encyclopedia Britannica which has different reading levels to choose from, as well as an audio tool. We also subscribe to PebbleGo, which is a great resource for the younger students and in the senior school we have both Ebsco Host and JSTOR. However, often students can’t find the information they need on these online databases. This is why it is so important that teacher librarians and teachers work with students to help them to be discerning when they search for information online.

My readings this week included some articles on the Wiki debate which provide different perspectives and some really interesting information. I want to share the links here because I know that I will direct teachers and some of our older students to these articles. Cronon (2012)  writes an interesting perspective in Scholarly authority in a Wikified world. He discusses the virtues of the largest, most comprehensive encyclopedia in all of human history that is in “270 languages and is written or edited by 82,000 active contributors”. Polson-Brown (2014) writes a blog The Wikipedia revolution: Whatever happened to Britannica? and compares the almost 6 million Wikipedia articles to the 40 000 in Britannica. He also argues the very interesting point, “Wikipedia has been shown to be more accurate than common belief would hold, and more accurate than traditional encyclopaedias. Wikipedia itself even has an article that lists studies into the reliability of Wikipedia (and yes they have a page on Criticism of Wikipedia for balance).  There is also a page on Wikipedia FAQ’s for schools. ” Proffitt (2012) has some valid arguments in the article, Why Wikipedia doesn’t belong in the classroom.

If you decide not to use wikipedia here are some great alternatives: refseek; and  Top 7 alternatives to Wikipedia. But if you decide to use it, these articles have some ideas on how to use it with students:

How to: Use Wikipedia in the Classroom Responsibly

Information literacy lessons in Wikipedia

To use or not to use? Wikipedia in the classroom

But don’t take my word for it, have a read of these articles and links and see for yourself! Then you can decide ‘to wiki or not to wiki?’

References

Cronon, W. (2012). Scholarly authority in a Wikified world. Perspectives on History. Retrieved from https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/february-2012/scholarly-authority-in-a-wikified-world

Harris, F.J. (2011). The school librarian as information specialist: A vibrant species. Knowledge Quest, 39(5), 28-32. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=61819926&site=ehost-live

Heckler, A. (2016). How to use Wikipedia in the classroom responsibly. Fractus Learning. Retrieved from https://www.fractuslearning.com/2013/05/13/wikipedia-in-the-classroom/

Mitchell, P. (2015). Information literacy lessons in Wikipedia. [Slideshare]. ASLA Online. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/ASLAonline/asla-wikipedia-webinar

Open Education Database. (2006-2017). Top 7 alternatives to Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://oedb.org/ilibrarian/top-7-alternatives-to-wikipedia/

Polson-Brown, C. (2014). The Wikipedia revolution: Whatever happened to Britannica? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.iinet.net.au/wikipedia-revolution-happened-britannica/

Proffitt, B. (2012). Why Wikipedia doesn’t belong in the classroom. Readwrite. Retrieved from http://readwrite.com/2012/09/12/why-wikipedia-doesnt-belong-in-the-classroom/

RefSeek. Retrieved from https://www.refseek.com/directory/encyclopedias.html

Tomaszewski, J. (2012). To use or not to use? Wikipedia in the classroom. Education World. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/how-to-use-wikipedia-for-academics.shtml