1. The Website-Which-
Must-Not-Be-Named:
Using Wikipedia to
Teach Information
Literacy
Ilka Datig
Instruction & Electronic Services Librarian
Mary Baldwin College

2. What was the most controversial
Wikipedia entry in 2010, according
to number of footnotes?

4. Organization
• Introduction
o Why we should use Wikipedia
• Examples of classroom activities
o Background information/brainstorming a topic
o Evaluating credibility
o Citations/References/Bibliography
o Information production
• Further reading
• Q&A

5. Why are we so scared?

6. Ubiquity
• 6th most popular website in 2011 (Alexa)
• Project Information Literacy:
o 84% use for information-gathering for course-
related research (Head & Eisenberg, 2009)
• SOPA Blackout
o “Oh. My. God. As soon as I need wikipedia for
homework, it suddenly is „shut down‟. I HATE YOU
WIKIPEDIA” (Tsukayama, 2012)

7. Class activities
• My experience: one-credit Information Literacy
courses
• One-shot sessions – I‟d love to hear your advice!

8. Using W to find
background information

9. Using W to find
background information
• Find and examine a page
• Find and examine an entry from a published
reference source (we use Credo Reference)
• Compare!

10. Using W to find
background information
• “This article differs from the wiki article in that 1.)
there is significantly more information offered on the
subject and consequently 2.) many more
references which makes the information much
more credible”
• “In this article, there were more detailed graphs and
back-up information to support the topic.”
• “This article differed from the wiki document in that
it had empirical data, and a longer list of
references. Wikipedia was more appealing to the
reader's eye, e.g. there were colorful pictures of
generated structures of different biomolecules.”

11. Using W to find
background information
• Concept Map
• Create a list of keywords

12. Using W to find
background information
• ACRL Standard One
o “The information literate student determines the nature and extent of the
information needed” (ACRL, 2000)
• „Summarizations and not actual research‟
(Jennings, 2008, p. 435)

13. Evaluating Credibility

14. Evaluating Credibility
• Edit History
• Controversial topics (some you wouldn‟t
expect!)

15. Evaluating Credibility

16. Evaluating Credibility

17. Evaluating Credibility

18. Evaluating Credibility
• “Wikiality”?
• Make an edit and see what sticks
• ACRL Standard 3:
o “The information literate student evaluates information and its sources
critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge
base and value system.”

19. Citations/References/
Bibliography

20. Citations/References/
Bibliography
• Identify the type of source

21. Citations/References/
Bibliography
• Follow linked sources
• Explain how to find non-linked sources
• ACRL Standard 2:
o “The information literate student accesses needed information effectively
and efficiently.”

22. Citations/References/
Bibliography
• Evaluate the sources
o Provide a checklist OR let students generate one
• ACRL Standard 3:
o “The information literate student evaluates information and its sources
critically and incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge
base and value system.”

23. Information Production

24. Information Production
• Edit an article
o Stubs
• Create an article
• Synthesize sources
o ACRL Standard 4: “The information literate
student, individually or as a member of a
group, uses information effectively to
accomplish a specific purpose.”

25. Information Production
• Troubleshooting
o Some HTML knowledge is handy
o Watch out for editors!
• Long-term
o Contribute to the Community Portal
o Harness local knowledge!

26. Further Reading
• Baker, Sarah. “A Place for Wikipedia or Putting
Wikipedia in its Place.” New Horizons for Learning.
Winter (2012): n.p. Web. 21 September 2012.
• Head, Alison & Eisenberg, Michael. “How Today‟s
College Students Use Wikipedia for Course-Related
Research.” First Monday 15.3 (2010): n.p. Web. 21
September 2012.
• Jennings, Eric. 2008. “Using Wikipedia to Teach
Information Literacy.” College & Undergraduate
Libraries. 15(4):432-437. Print.

27. Further Reading
• Kraft, Michelle. “College Students Use of Wikipedia
for Course Related Research”. The Krafty Librarian.
N.p. 24 March 2010. Web. 21 September 2012.
• Lorenzen, Michael. “Teaching with Wikipedia.” The
Information Literacy Land of Confusion. N.p. 15
February 2008. Web. 21 September 2012.
• Ludwig, Sarah. “Letting Go of Boolean Operators:
Rethinking How Research Is Taught in Schools.”
TechSource. ALA. 2 July 2012. Web. 21 September
2012.

28. Citations
• Most controversial Wikipedia entries in 2010 (by
number of footnotes):
http://www.deseretnews.com/top/97/0/10-
controversial-Wikipedia-topics.html
• An Open Letter to Wikipedia by Philip Roth:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/201
2/09/an-open-letter-to-
wikipedia.html#ixzz25nx4uGsB
• Head & Eisenberg‟s study of how college students
seek info:
http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2009_Year1Rep
ort_12_2009.pdf

29. Citations
• List of most popular websites by Alexa:
http://www.alexa.com/topsites
• Student reaction to SOPA blackout by Tsukuyama:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technolo
gy/no-wiki-sopa-blackout-has-students-hitting-the-
panic-button/2012/01/18/gIQAlS4Z8P_story.html
• ACRL‟s Information Literacy Competency Standards
for Higher Education:
http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationlitera
cycompetency

30. Wikipedia
• Helpful Wikipedia Links
o Manual of style: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style
o Information on stubs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Stub
o Community portal:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal

31. Image credits
• 4eleven images @ Flickr
• Ben Oh @ Flickr
• Auntie P @ Flickr

32. Questions?
Slideshare: The Website-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named: Using
Wikipedia to Teach Information Literacy
idatig@mbc.edu