Carlapedia

What is Wikipedia?

Put simply, Wikipedia is an online encyclopaedia. But, there is a twist; contributions to this site are made by the general public. Anyone has the opportunity to edit, add to content, or make up their own articles.

How do I use Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is simple and relatively straightforward to use. Here are some steps for a basic search:

1. Type www.wikipedia.org into your internet address bar
   
2. You will be given a choice of language options, choose your preferred language
   
3. This will take you to your chosen language’s Home Page, at the top of the page there is a search bar, type in your search and press enter
   
4. In some instances you will be given a range of options for your search, click on the most appropriate
   
5. You will be taken to your requested article
   
   

To edit or make contributions to most Wikipedia articles you need to create an account. To create an account you need to:

1. At the top right hand corner of the page is the option to Log In or Create Account
   
2. Click on this link
   
3. Create a new account by making up a username, password and you can also link it up to an email account, in case you lose your password
   
   

Once you have created your account you are now able to edit, or create articles. Wikipedia has set up examples on how to edit and create pages. Wikipedia provides information about requirements (e.g. references must be valid, you can’t make up an article about a friend etc) when editing or creating a new article. There is also a page called Sandbox, where you can practice your edits on a public editing page. Although I do warn caution, as there were some pretty explicit pictures on there when I first looked!

To edit an article on Wikipedia:

1. Once you are logged in, search for your chosen article
   
2. In the top right hand side of the page you will see three tabs; Read, Edit or View Source and View History
   
3. If you are given the option to Edit, then you may make appropriate changes. Pages that are more secure will have View Source at the top of the page. These pages are semi-protected and can only be edited by established registered users (to prevent vandalism on popular pages)
   
4. Preview your edit, and then save changes
   

Why do we use Wikipedia?

Wikipedia's Home Page

Wikipedia is a fast and simple way to get quick answers. Content is mostly accurate (edits and contributions are regularly verified) and therefore it is usually a reliable source. It has over 3,500,000 articles, so it is bound to answer any question you may have. Wikipedia is also available as a mobile phone application, which means that you never need to have a question unanswered!
Articles, such as those on countries or events in history, aren’t available for just anyone to edit, you need to be an established registered user – that is you need to have an account and to have made a certain amount of edits that have been successfully verified – to be able to edit content.

I personally like the way that the majority of articles are easy to read and understand. There are links provided throughout articles connecting you to other Wikipedia articles or outside resources, and citations are linked to their references.
The Wikipedia Home Page is also a great page to check in on daily. It shows a feature article, a brief summary of recent news (with links to these pages), a ‘did you know’ section, today in history (what happened on this date in earlier years), and a feature picture.

Wikipedia is an effective classroom tool, as its basic language and easy links mean that students have a wealth of information at their fingertips. Larger articles have a contents box, which automatically links to a certain section, and fact boxes that quickly give you basic details of the article. Recently in my class, my students were looking at the country Africa and they had certain questions that they had to answer. One question was ‘What is the population of Africa?’ Students were able to look in the fact box to find the answer quickly, rather than having to read through the article.

Quality of Content

Can you trust the information that you find on Wikipedia? There are situations that have been publicised where information has been changed (or vandalised) for whatever reason. One such example that I saw on www.failbook.com was during the Academy Awards, one quick thinker saw Russell Brand on the red carpet with his mother, and decided to change the mother’s name on Wikipedia, to see if she could catch a journalist out. It worked. Here is the link to see the post http://cheezburger.com/View/4508928512. A very simplistic example of vandalism on Wikipedia, but shows the effect of how a simple error, deliberate or accidental, can have. Wikipedia states in its Terms of Use that reputable sites should be used as your references and sites ending in .org, .gov, .edu and well known news sites are reliable sources. I believe when using Wikipedia you need to take everything with a grain of salt. Check out the citations to see if it is accurate. Check out the information using another source. Don’t always take what you read as the honest truth- applies to many forms of media, not just Wikipedia!
Wikipedia is usually frowned upon as a reputable reference site for scholarly essays, I should know, I got in trouble for using a Wikipedia reference in an assignment when I was completing my Education Degree. I will never make that mistake again!

Wikipedia is an easy to use encyclopaedia that is simple and straightforward to search and find articles. It allows anyone to contribute to articles or to create their own. What are you waiting for? Get on there today and share your knowledge!