Lesson 5. Verifying Information and Checking References

In this lesson, you learn how to verify the information you find in Wikipedia articles.

How Accurate Is an Article?

One of the primary issues some people have with Wikipedia concerns accuracy. Given that articles are written by other users, just how accurate is the information in an article?

Although the potential certainly exists for inaccurate information to be posted, Wikipedia maintains multiple safeguards to ensure the highest possible accuracy. Most of the safeguards revolve around references—the sources of information contained within an article.

Wikipedia is guided by what it calls the five pillars; these are general guidelines that define the type of content allowed on the site. ...

Get Sams Teach Yourself Wikipedia in 10 Minutes now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.