Post 2

I've always liked using Wikipedia as a reference for projects and essays. I think it is a good way to start your research because you can gain a general overview of your topic of interest. The essay "Wikipedia Is Good For You?" states that Wikipedia acts as both a product and a representation of a process, meaning that it is a source and a guide for further research. Teachers often disapprove of students using Wikipedia as a source for research papers for several reasons. One, it allows open participation, which leads to incorrect information. Two, Wikipedia articles change all the time. This can make it difficult for teachers or anyone else reviewing your work to check the conclusions you made from your sources. Also the changeability of Wikipedia makes it hard to know which version of a Wikipedia article an author cited. And three, Wikipedia like all encyclopedias are generally just an overview of a subject and most college-level projects are interested in a more than just an overview. Overall I agree with the general consensus of teachers and believe that Wikipedia articles should generally not be cited as sources in research papers. Although I still think Wikipedia is a good starting point to generate ideas and to find links to other texts. The essay argues that Wikipedia includes the four elements needed for successful research based writing; reviewing, conversing, revising, and sharing. For every Wikipedia page there are four sections; article, discussion, edit this page, and history. People make can make suggestions, converse, and share their ideas to improve the article in the discussion section and can add, delete, and revise in the edit this page section. The history section records the date the article was modified and who modified it. Reviewing, conversing, revising, and sharing are all essential for successful research based writing because a first draft is almost never going to be perfect. So you have to keep making drafts and continuously review, converse, share, and revise to make your work as accurate as possible. After reading this essay my appreciation for Wikipedia has increased mostly because they made it sound like Wikipedia articles are constantly being updated and improved.