Media Type: website
Address: www.wikipedia.com
Age level: all ages
Summary: Wikipedia is a search engine in wiki format. This allows anyone to add and/or edit pages on the site.
Evaluation: Due to its interactive nature wikipedia is not always the most dependable one-stop research tool. People can log on and provide information that is just plain wrong or mistaken. However, it is also highly used by the proposed age group as a first stop for homework assignments. Wikipedia should not be the only source used, but it can certainly be helpful in understanding a larger concept in the simplest language.
Selection: I took a reference course this semester that had weekly “mini-assignments.’ Many of them used unfamiliar terms and people. Using wikipedia I was able to gain a common ground with the terminology and move onto more respected research sites. That being said, I think wikipedia needs to be re-evaluated in the academic field as a useful first tool to start from. We tell tweens and teens that it’s not a good source when in reality it’s great to use to get a grip on unknown topics.
