Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2008-04-21/In the news

Yet another academic against Wikipedia – Last week, we covered the Deakin University professor who believes that Wikipedia crowds out expert knowledge. Christopher Dawson, a high school teacher, responds to her key contentions, saying that she misses the point of Wikipedia. He notes that Wikipedia should never be the only source for students, but then again, no other source should be relied upon by itself. He notes that Wikipedia is a great starting point for research, and the professor herself admitted that her students found Wikipedia to be "a good place to get a general understanding of a topic". Dawson believes that the key point is that students need to be discerning when they read Wikipedia, as with any other material placed online.

Other mentions in the online media include:

• Hacienda Heights high school student arrested in online threats – A student at a California school was arrested for making criminal threats against students via Wikipedia (see related story).
• Wikipedia takes business approach – Despite recent questions about his use of expenses and his personal life, Jimbo Wales is focused on ensuring that Wikipedia has the resources to grow.
• A pro-Israel group's plan to rewrite history on Wikipedia – This article claims that a group called CAMERA is intending to take over Wikipedia by stealth and install a pro-Israel bias (see related discussion at WP:ANI).
• Wikipedia Article creates Circular references – A Wikipedia article was used as the source of a claim made in a news website, which was then used as a reference on Wikipedia.
• Wikipedia vs Encyclopaedia: A question of trust? – This article compares Wikipedia with two DVD-based encyclopedias and asks whether there is any scope for traditional encyclopedias given Wikipedia's existence.