Wikipedia How When Where Wikipedia text To the

Wikipedia! How? When? Where? • Wikipedia text: “To the Student: Appropriate Use of Wikipedia” by Alan Liu, Professor of English UC Santa Barbara • (Originally posted to the “Humanist Discussion Group: , Vol. 20, No. 84 on June 29, 2006 (http: //lists. village. virginia. edu/lists_archive/Humanist/v 20/0 080. html) • Adapted to Powerpoint by Melissa Checker, Associate Professor of Urban Studies, Queens College, May, 2011.

• In recent years, Wikipedia (http: //www. wikipedia. org/) has become one of the most important and useful resources on the Internet. • Created by an open community of authors it has become a powerful resource for researchers to consult alongside other established library and online resources. • As in the case of all tools, however, its value is a function of appropriateness. • In the case of college-level essays or research papers, students should keep in mind the following two limitations, one applying to all encyclopedias, and the other specifically to Wikipedia:

1. • Wikipedia is not appropriate as the primary or sole reference for anything that is central to an argument, complex, or controversial. “ • Central to an argument" means that the topic in question is crucial for the paper. • "Complex" means anything requiring analysis, critical thought, or evaluation. • "Controversial" means anything that requires listening to the original voices in a debate because no consensus or conventional view has yet emerged.

2. • However, a Wikipedia citation can be an appropriate convenience when the point being supported is minor, noncontroversial, or also supported by other evidence. • In addition, Wikipedia is an appropriate source for some extremely recent topics (especially in popular culture or technology) • In such cases, however, due diligence requires at least glancing at the editing "history" of the article (available through the "history" tab at the top) to get a sense of how controversial or consensual, unstable or stable, the article has been. • (Such due diligence is like sticking one's hand in the shower before getting in: not a precise measure of reliability, but a good way not to get burned. )

3. • Wikipedia has special limitations because it is an online encyclopedia written by a largely unregulated, worldwide, and often anonymous community of contributors

4. • Some articles in Wikipedia are unreliable because they are the contested terrain of "edit wars, " political protest, or vandalism. • Wikipedia is currently an uneven resource. • Students should be aware that Wikipedia is a dynamic, constantly mutating resource.

The World’s Blog • Students should feel free to consult Wikipedia as one of the most powerful instruments for opening knowledge that the Internet has yet produced. • But it is not a one-stop-shop for reliable knowledge. • Because it is communal, dynamic, and unrefereed, Wikipedia is not just an encyclopedia of knowledge. It is better thought of as a combination of encyclopedia and "blog. " • It is the world's blog.

Plagiarism

CUNY’s Definition of Plagiarism • Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person’s ideas, research or writings as your own. The following are some examples of plagiarism, but by no means is it an exhaustive list: • Copying another person’s actual words without the use of quotation marks and footnotes attributing the words to their source. • Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source. • Using information that is not common knowledge without acknowledging the source. • Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory assignments.

Plagiarism – Yes or No? • “The original name for the district was Elliotville, after a renowned ophthalmologist, Samuel Mac. Kenzie Elliot, who by 1840 had acquired more than 30 homes in the community. ” • “The original name for the district was Elliotville, after a renowned ophthalmologist, Samuel Mac. Kenzie Elliot, who by 1840 had acquired more than 30 homes in the community. [2]”

Plagiarism – Yes or No? • Everyday, ferry-bound commuters get off at Tompkinsville and walk 10 minutes to the boat to avoid paying the $2. 25 fare. • Everyday, ferry-bound commuters get off at Tompkinsville and walk 10 minutes to the boat. But it's not for exercise. It's to avoid paying the $2 fare.

How can I avoid Plagiarism? ?

Citations! • One of the first Europeans to settle the area was Francis Lovelace, the second governor of the New York colony, who in 1668 started farming in the area that would become Livingston. [1] The original name for the district was Elliotville, after a renowned ophthalmologist, Samuel Mac. Kenzie Elliot, who by 1840 had acquired more than 30 homes in the community. [2] The present name of Livingston was coined by officials of the Staten Island Railway who bought the mansion of resident Anson Livingston and then gave that name to a station built near the current intersection of Richmond Terrace and Bard Avenue. [3][1]