Cite That

I find when I'm trying to learn about a new subject that deciding who to believe about a specific set of facts can be difficult. The Civil War has a myriad of different opinions many of which back up their opinions with facts. But what to do when those facts don't line? Where to look for the correct fact?

Wikipedia has an article that identifies their prioritization of facts. This is useful when comparing two sources because you can begin to identify if one uses more reliable sources than the other. An important part of this evaluation would include checking some of those listed sources to make sure that the information cited is really there in the source and accurately contextualized.

Image via Wikipedia

I also like to see where links online take me. I can remember one article with a lot of facts but all their sources pointed to one other website. I found this concerning and spent only a bit more time in research which turned up that both websites originated from the same person.

Many people like to use Wikipedia, but there are perils there as well. Often articles don't include cites and even with included cites much depends on individuals who post to an article. Wikipedia editors do try to remove inaccurate or information without citations, but even so that doesn't always occur instantly. In a recent case a student was able to get quotes included in a composer's obituary that the student had written rather than the composer.

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales had warned long ago against such usage of Wikipedia. However there's growing acceptance of citing the online cite and even guidance to be found on how to do so.

For folk like myself this seems an acceptable compromise, but with facts in dispute more extensive research is needed.