Pros and Cons

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Wikipedia is a useful source of information for university students


ForAgainst

  
its coverage is broad and encyclopedic in scope
ForAgainst

  
it has more than 1 million articles on wide-ranging topics
ForAgainst
  • Wikipedia gives a general information for the students, the information can be use as a covered introduction, not for the reference propose. 

  
there is no hierarchy of knowledge
ForAgainst
     

  
there are portals and categories
ForAgainst
     

  
they don't tell users which information is more important to know
ForAgainst
     
  • comparing information importance is not the function of an encyclopedia 

  
it is also bias
ForAgainst

  
Wikipedia has an official Neutral Point of View policy
ForAgainst
  • it aims to describe disputes rather than to take sides in them 

  
Wikipedia articles rarely ascend to the desired level of neutrality
ForAgainst
     

  
all articles are edited by people
ForAgainst
     
  • people are inherently biased 

  
it reflects the viewpoints and interests of those who write it
ForAgainst
     
  • there can be many authors, so the text is less biased to one opinion
  • all writing reflects the biases of the author(s) to some degree 

  
many schools do not allow their students to use Wikipedia as sources
ForAgainst
     

  
its information lacks authority
ForAgainst
  • users can verify its information with other sources 
     

  
schools should not forbid the use of Wikipedia as a source
ForAgainst
  • if students get inaccurate information from Wikipedia, it is a chance for them to contribute by correcting it and giving a reference
  • if students get inaccurate information from Wikipedia, it is an opportunity to educate them on fact checking
  • forbidding the use of a source of information is censorship 
     

  
some of its information may be inaccurate or misleading
ForAgainst
     

  
anyone can create and edit its content
ForAgainst
     

  
inaccurate entries are quickly corrected by editors who monitor pages
ForAgainst
     

  
You can never be sure that the latest version is absolutely correct
ForAgainst
     
  • you can never be sure that any information is correct unless you check it