The research process can take days or weeks for some students. By using Wikipedia, students have discovered that it can take only a matter of seconds.

Wikipedia is an increasingly popular encyclopedia-type Web site that offers any information as fast as an Internet search. What makes Wikipedia different is that it has no authority, and any Internet user can challenge content. The openness of the Web site has long been a concern for most NIU professors. Some professors allow students to cite Wikipedia while others have completely banned it.

For assistant history professor Brian Sandberg, Wikipedia raises a variety of issues.

“[Wikipedia] has a lack of stability. Information can be changed at any time,” Sandberg said. “In history, you want to have a sense of who is making a claim.”

Sandberg does not allow Wikipedia to be used as a source in his classes, but has seen students use it in the past. He believes encyclopedias of any kind should not be used for any academic papers since they go beyond secondary sources.

With Wikipedia, students no longer have to spend time researching a topic. Since it’s already done, it can hardly be viewed as doing research. Aside from the lack of work, there really is no determining what’s factual or not on Wikipedia, with or without the sources.

Even the editors of Wikipedia recognize the posting of inaccurate and even malicious information, which they call vandalism. Sandberg stated that he had also found racist articles in which people have added racist terms.

The Internet alone already causes problems, since anyone can create a Web site and post misinformation. The only definite reliable sources end with .gov, .org and .edu. There may be plenty of information on the Internet, but finding credible sources isn’t as simple.

Sandberg suggests finding out what kind of sources the authors use along with analyzing the conclusions the authors make from the sources.

The site presents a strong probability of misinforming students or anyone else curious about a subject. The short time it takes to find information may not even be worth it.

It’s hard to understand why a site like Wikipedia was created at all. Sure, it provides a vast amount of information, but what’s the point if none of it is reliable? Making the site available to edit by anyone seems stupid. Not everyone is intelligent enough to supply sources and accurate information. Many only see Wikipedia as a chance to write something stupid for the world to see.

A student’s time and energy are better applied at a library. Books and journals will never lose their reliability, while many Web sites quickly do. Elementary students may get away with using Wikipedia, but it’s no longer an option for college students who should be able to do their own research.