re: #106 Mattand

I don’t buy the whole “Never use Wikipedia for research” argument. I get into this with my school teacher sister all the time.

Should it be the only source for research? Of course not. But the thing is, they hyperlink the footnotes right on the frigging page. The sources are right there.

Honestly, I think much of the hating on Wikipedia is a perceived elitist thing: easily accessible on a home computer, as opposed to being a huge stack of expensive printed books.

You brought up 2 more points I overlooked in my response to Gene Jockey: The footnotes, which might be links to actual books, and sometimes, carefully lifted passages from entire articles, etc which you are expected to take at face value.

Now, I’m not saying that all information found in Wikipedia is suspect, but I’ve found enough to try to find other sources first, and as stated, only go to Wikipedia as a last resort online or as an identifier, just as I don’t try to diagnose myself on medical sites but go directly to a dr if I’m in real distress and for treatment and tests.