Project 2 Independent Post 1

          Unlike blogging, I have had experience with Wikipedia. I have used it many times to look up information on movies, music, books, shows, the list goes on and on. I've always enjoyed using it because it is very well organized, and provides a basic summary on the topic that is easy to read and understand. The fact that it can be accessed worldwide make it easy to find information about other cultures across the globe. However, the ability for the public to edit the information on Wikipedia does have its drawbacks.

          The major downside that everyone seems to point out first is that since anyone can change the information posted the information one finds on Wikipedia is not always reliable. Indeed, it is because of this that many of my professors do not allow us to use Wikipedia as a source. So, when it comes to assignments for school I never use Wikipedia as a source. Nevertheless, I will sometimes look something up on Wikipedia in order to understand or to help narrow down my search for information. 

          For example, there have been many times in the classes pertaining to my major where I have been assigned homework that involves calculations such as population estimates, or logistic growth equations. Sometimes, it is not fully explained what the variables in these equations are or I have trouble understanding the exact purpose behind a certain calculation. So, instead of searching on Google and sifting through a million results or spending hours reading about the topic in a scientific website that uses advanced and difficult terminology I visit Wikipedia. This allows me to better understand the terminology or helps me find examples that I can then search to get narrower results.