12-02-2011, 12:54 AM
The single most important thing that makes Wikipedia both GOOD and BAD is the ability of people to edit any article.
This is BAD because it DOES allow people to "screw with" articles... but it's GOOD because it equally allows people knowledgeable about a subject to FIX the screwed up article and add material.
I have used Wikipedia extensively as a BEGINNING for research on some ancestors of royal descent... because well written articles on (for example) Henry II of England cite sources I can then look up using Google Books, the local library, or other reliable sources.
I don't take ANYTHING on Wikipedia at face value until I can verify it against other sources.
It's incumbent upon users of Wikipedia to add truth and fact to articles when they see lies and misstatements.
If you see something you know to be wrong, fix it, and add a citation that can be looked up to back it up.
I donated some to Wikipedia last year, and have promised myself that if the genealogy book I've published every actually SELLS copies, I'll donate more.
This is a bad time of year for me to be donating anything to anyone... (doesn't mean I'm not donating ANYTHING.... but not a lot available right now...)
This is BAD because it DOES allow people to "screw with" articles... but it's GOOD because it equally allows people knowledgeable about a subject to FIX the screwed up article and add material.
I have used Wikipedia extensively as a BEGINNING for research on some ancestors of royal descent... because well written articles on (for example) Henry II of England cite sources I can then look up using Google Books, the local library, or other reliable sources.
I don't take ANYTHING on Wikipedia at face value until I can verify it against other sources.
It's incumbent upon users of Wikipedia to add truth and fact to articles when they see lies and misstatements.
If you see something you know to be wrong, fix it, and add a citation that can be looked up to back it up.
I donated some to Wikipedia last year, and have promised myself that if the genealogy book I've published every actually SELLS copies, I'll donate more.
This is a bad time of year for me to be donating anything to anyone... (doesn't mean I'm not donating ANYTHING.... but not a lot available right now...)