Re: [LM_NET] Turning Wikipedia into an Asset for Schools

[Darlene Yasick <lib027yas@SBCGLOBAL.NET>]

I've only looked at Wikipedia briefly but after the discussion I thought I would 
check it out so I used a little know historical event that I am somewhat familiar 
with - the Peshtigo Fire ( same day as the Chicago Fire but much more devastating 
in lives lost and property destroyed-- fi you are looking for an interesting non- 
fiction book on the subject check out "Firestorm at Peshtigo". Most of the info is 
correct but there is something hauntingly familiar about some of the text. (I know 
I have read it before but can't find the source at this point.) I also includes a 
"controversial" idea that the fire was started by a comet. There are no sources for 
any of the information.

What I found most interesting was that when I put a sentence from the page into 
Google, I got a page of hits ( 41) from different websites. They are all word for 
word from the Wiki site-- or where ever they got the info from. They have names 
like Onpedia, Fixed Reference, Free Dictionary, Absolute astronomy, Academickids. 
encyclopedia laborlaw talk  and answers.Some of the sites at the very bottom in 
tiny letters say that the information came from Wikipedia some just say that it was 
acquired under GNU Free Documented License. Some don't say anything about where 
their info came from. So if a student does a Google search, the likelihood is that 
they could find many sites that will verify the information from the Wikipedia site 
by repeating the exact same content information in sort of a world wide web mobius 
strip! This sort of thing makes it evenmore imperative that we teach kids how to 
research and evaluate.  (I'm going to go and change the one glaring mistake I found 
and th!
 en check
 in a bit to see if the other sites get changed too.


Darlene Yasick
Media Specialist
Hopkins (MI) High School
lib027yas@global.net

--------------------------------------------------------------------
All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law.
To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET  2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL
3) SET LM_NET MAIL  4) SET LM_NET DIGEST  * Allow for confirmation.
LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/
Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/
EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/
LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------