by JORDAN PRESS, POSTMEDIA
Reliable is not a word that traditionally has been associated with Wikipedia, but that’s changing. The change began in 2005 when the prestigious science journal Nature compared Wikipedia to Encyclopaedia Britannica and found Wikipedia to be almost as accurate as Britannica, a finding that set off a war of words between the two institutions. The evidence mounted this year, when Brigham Young University in Utah found that Wikipedia was a reliable place to learn about U.S. politicians. The school’s study found few inaccuracies in the biographical and voting details of gubernatorial candidates. And, in September this year, a study published in the Journal of Oncology Practice found that cancer information on Wikipedia was as accurate as information on peer-reviewed, patient-oriented websites. The only problem? Wikipedia wasn’t as readable – the wiki was written at a college level, while peer-reviewed websites were written at a Grade 9 level, the study found.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Wikipedia+gaining+respect+places+higher+learning/5663207/story.html
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