Post 2

I have always believed that Wikipedia is a very useful source. While there are mistakes and some false information on Wikipedia, it has always been my go to site to find all sorts of information. Since I use Wikipedia so much, I could never quite understand why professors and teachers would not allow us as students to use Wikipedia in research papers, projects, and other various activities that needed outside sources. After reading this article I have a better understanding as to why teachers are so weary to allow us students to use Wikipedia. I still believe that Wikipedia can be a useful tool for finding information, but because Wikipedia has open participation and can be easily changed, I now feel that it is not necessarily the best place to find information.

After reading Purdy’s article, I believe that there is a lot to learn from the academic research process that happens on Wikipedia. Authors on Wikipedia must review what other people have written on their topic so that they do not write information that is not related to the topic or put information on the page that is already there. Purdy states that to avoid repetition, one must do a literature review, which “entails summarizing main points from your sources, identifying their insights and/or limitations, and situating these texts in relation to one another and your writing” (214). Conducting a literature review is helpful when beginning the process of writing or editing a Wikipedia page, because if there are repetitions the work that is done will most likely be deleted from the page. It is also necessary not to copy from sources or take credit from others’ information, because that will make the writer seem unqualified. Also, while revising the paper or article, one should revise frequently and should receive feedback from peers, teachers, family, and friends. Receiving feedback should also happen before finalizing the paper so that the article is clear and has no repetition. I believe that all of these steps are relevant and can be extremely helpful for writing both a successful research paper, and writing our own Wikipedia pages.