question about wikipedia

i was just going through wiki for some basic info, and ive looked around the page but i cannot find the author of the page... does anyone know where the name of the author is usually located? thanks for the help.

can just anyone edit it?

fyi do not use it as a source for any paper you might be writing. In high school you might get away with it, but in college any teacher worth their position will laugh at you for using wikipedia.

Wikipedia is good for getting info, but because it is edited by peers (and not professionals), it is unreliable. Though the info is generally good, if you spend one week writing a 20-page paper and half your citations are from wikipedia, you are guarenteed to have false information.

Do the smart thing...go to the library, look for magazine articles, books, and websites.

fyi do not use it as a source for any paper you might be writing. In high school you might get away with it, but in college any teacher worth their position will laugh at you for using wikipedia.

Wikipedia is good for getting info, but because it is edited by peers (and not professionals), it is unreliable. Though the info is generally good, if you spend one week writing a 20-page paper and half your citations are from wikipedia, you are guarenteed to have false information.

Do the smart thing...go to the library, look for magazine articles, books, and websites.

mrbojangles25

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

fyi do not use it as a source for any paper you might be writing. In high school you might get away with it, but in college any teacher worth their position will laugh at you for using wikipedia.

Wikipedia is good for getting info, but because it is edited by peers (and not professionals), it is unreliable. Though the info is generally good, if you spend one week writing a 20-page paper and half your citations are from wikipedia, you are guarenteed to have false information.

Do the smart thing...go to the library, look for magazine articles, books, and websites.

SolidSnake35

yes in that case it is correct so long as you pursue the original source.

Its just really lame when your essay looks like this:

blah blah blah blah blah blah , blah blah (wikipedia). blah blah blah blah (wikipedia), blah blah . etc, etc.

I think it's alright to use the information on Wikipedia so long as you follow the citations and use those links in your bibliography.SolidSnake35

Well, those citations can be useful, but you really should actually go to wherever the original content was before just saying you used it. Besides, since anybody can edit the article, information might be played around with on wiki, so always read further into it elsewhere. Wikipedia is good for quick and hard facts, but not for marked essays. At my uni, you get failed for referencing to wikipedia. :shock:

[QUOTE="SolidSnake35"]I think it's alright to use the information on Wikipedia so long as you follow the citations and use those links in your bibliography.Caddy06_88

Well, those citations can be useful, but you really should actually go to wherever the original content was before just saying you used it. Besides, since anybody can edit the article, information might be played around with on wiki, so always read further into it elsewhere. Wikipedia is good for quick and hard facts, but not for marked essays. At my uni, you get failed for referencing to wikipedia. :shock: