Navigating Wikipedia and Wikipedia Articles Wisely
1. Navigating Wikipedia
and Wikipedia Articles
Wisely
The Unquiet Library
August 2012
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Image Source: Microsoft Clip Art Gallery Image
2. DO…
Use Wikipedia to learn the basic information about a
new subject or to build some basic background
knowledge. It is a starting point.
Use the information you find to then
discover/use alternate, more scholarly sources.
Assess all information in an article.
Source: http://libguides.tamuk.edu/content.php?pid=164882&sid=1390945&search_terms=evaluating+Wikipedia 2
3. DON’T…
Use Wikipedia as your only or primary
source of information.
Treat the information in the article as
authoritative facts.
Fail to investigate the source list at the end of
the article—this can be a “jumping off” point
for other possible sources.
Source: http://libguides.tamuk.edu/content.php?pid=164882&sid=1390945&search_terms=evaluating+Wikipedia 3
5. Featured articles are considered to
be the best articles Wikipedia has
to offer as determined
by Wikipedia's editors
A small bronze star icon () on the
top right corner of an article's page
indicates that the article is featured
Articles are evaluated for accuracy,
neutrality, completeness, and style
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12. NOTE: all external sources and links should
be evaluated for accuracy and credibility;
their inclusion does not automatically mean
they are trustworthy sources of information.
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13. Date Published or Updated
suggested web links to browse outside of
Wikipedia
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17. Talk Tab of an Article
A discussion of issues
and/or history of the
article
A place to see the
“grade” or evaluation
of the article from
Wikipedia editors
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Image Source: Microsoft Clip Art Gallery Image