The University of Baltimore, as a smaller school, does not have the research resources of many others. However, this does not prevent the school from making a mark. Earlier this week, the Langsdale Library Blog announced a new project studying how millennial students used research databases.
As a premillenial, it is interesting to see how students used research databases and how they used other tools available to them. The students were interviewed regarding reliability of information on the Internet. Wikipedia, in particular, was derided for its accuracy by several subjects. This is where things get fascinating.
I use Wikipedia all the time, even for research work. While Wikipedia may not be the sum of all human knowledge, it is at least the mean of all human knowledge. And it can comfortably provide a sound starting point for real work through its extensive referencing. I like to call it an annotated bibliography.
It's time for the Langsdale research to expand the project by looking at how current high school students use the Internet.
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Fascinating post, James! I'm the same way--I take Wikipedia at face value, especially since it's fairly good about indicating when a citation is missing or an entry is incomplete, but I use it as a jumping-off point. In my job as a journalist and communicator, it's invaluable as a research tool. Thanks for your insight!
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