Sunday
Jun032007
Groucho on Wikipedia
Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 06:48PM 
I would not want to rely on any encyclopedia that would accept me as a contributor.
This is the advice librarian Martin Swist at The American School In Japan gives his students. I love it!
Reader Comments (5)
Bah,
I don't know what makes this guy look more inept as a librarian, that he feels he would have nothing to contribute to an information source (apparently he is purely a consumer?) or that he is this uninformed about the wiki process.
Isn't it time we stop trying to take cheap shots at Wikipedia? The rest of the world gets it. Why must we make ourselves look so stupid?
Hi Chris,
Personally, I saw this as self-deprecating humor rather than a real jibe at Wikipedia - in the spirit of Groucho's original statement that he wouldn't join any club that would have him as a member.
As you know, I am something of a fan of Wikipedia and think we need to teach students to take advantage of its transparency.
http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/wiki.html
All the very best and thanks for writing.
Doug
There is self-deprecating (the first time I tried to edit I screwed things up really bad and got a nastygram on my user page) and there is looking uninformed.
What you wrote comes across very nicely, but I think it is time for a harder line stance on ending the attacks on Wikipedia. Every time we say it is "bad" and then a student uses it and finds it helpful (or perceives it to be helpful) then we look like we don't have a clue. All love for Groucho aside, what is the branded image this promotes?
Hi Chris,
I hope the "image" we project is that we teach learners to treat ALL sources of information with some degree of skepticism.
My sense is that librarians have image problems greater than how they regard Wikipedia, but then I guess it all adds up.
Point taken, however.
Doug
I "get" Wikipedia but I also love the Groucho Marx reference. I agree with you about encouraging healthy skepticism regarding sources. Thanks for sharing, Doug.