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Online resource gives students access to the mechanics of research. Jack Grove reports.
Is Wikipedia the scourge of the academic world? Written and edited by thousands of volunteers with no qualifying credentials, the vast reference site is filled with inaccuracies, encourages plagiarism and debases traditional research skills, its critics claim.
However, others are calling on the academy to embrace the site, saying it can spark scholarly debate, improve teaching and advance knowledge across the world.
About 60 academics and learning support staff gathered at the University of Leicester earlier this month for the UK's first conference on promoting the effective use of Wikipedia within higher education.
The EduWiki Conference 2012, which was held on 5-6 September, looked at the growing trend for using...