Archive:Stories: Difference between revisions

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+{{cquote|In the winter of 2008 my wife and I lived in China. We had 8 months without employment while we waited for some bureaucratic procedures to work their way through the system. We made the most of opportunities to travel throughout the country, and I spent a lot of time on my computer researching supporting information for my travelogue which I emailed to NZ periodically. I guess I was a bit naive to expect that the communist government there wouldn't really have any overt impact on our day-to-day lives. I was very wrong about that, and one of the ways that showed up was that the Wikipedia site was blocked to users on the net. The day I visited the museum in Dandong commemorating the Chinese participation in the Korean war and read their 'official' version of that chapter of history, I could see why. I was shocked and deeply disturbed to learn that they teach today's schoolchildren the same propaganda. For me Wikipedia became a symbol of freedom, and the truth. It has always been a very useful and reliable source of information, but the value of access to the honest truth is priceless.}}
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 {{cquote|As an academic researcher and instructor of introductory research methods, I use it frequently. The one discussion I have every year with my students is what is a more reliable source of information: Wikipedia or a peer reviewed published journal articles. Invariably, most students think a peer reviewed published journal article will automatically be more accurate and reliable. And for various reasons, I point out that this is not necessarily the case. They generally fail to realize that Wikipedia in many ways is like the ultimate peer reviewed publication. Usually, a lively discussion ensues. It means to me that knowledge is not meant to be nurtured and shared by a select few, but by the world.}}