I’ve just sent a donation to Wikipedia - anyone else?

Yes Urms I quite often send a small donation (£2/3).
I use Wikipedia a lot and appreciate it.

Yep, I send a small donation every year. I use it most days and am happy to give a little to support them.

I tend to do it every time they ask.

Yes, I send small amounts, would be lost without it!

I do, regularly, I use it a lot. I make contributions to other sites that provide information as well.

I spent my career generating and distributing information and I know and understand just how much collecting and publishing data can cost, time costs, possibly data costs, technology costs.

Me too M0nica!
So yes.

I did, about a fortnight ago.

Me too, just done for the first time.

I'm glad you bought this up.
I wasn't sure whether to or not, but I will now.

No. Wikipedia is a good starting point, but as it is a collection of pages produced by anyone who wants to, it is far from a reliable source. Anyone can alter what is there, too, which can be amusing at times, but it is very often inaccurate.

If I just want to know who starred in X film or similar, I will use it, but if I wanted reliable statistics or historical information (or whatever) I know I would have to check it out anyway, so prefer to go straight to a more reliable site.

Thanks MissA ?

I did it and then just doubted myself afterwards. I’m glad I asked actually.

Yes I do

I should do but I don’t really know how to. I’ve used it for so many years and feel guilty that I haven’t.

Doodledog I think you under rate Wikipedia. Yes, some contentious/popular entries are suspect but I would have confidence in the veracity of 90% of entries.

As for going directly to other 'safe and reliable' sites. I am not sure they are anymore accurate. I have read arrant nonsense on some very reputable sites.

I always get figures and information from several sites and cross check them.

Lets face it, these days, you cannot even trust a train or bus timetable.

I had a little 'could this be a scam?' thought in my mind.

I hesitated posting this, however I'm going to give another viewpoint. When I was responsible for computing and technology in my school, we advised pupils that Wikipedia was not always a reliable source of information and should not solely be relied on. Pupils were encouraged to compare information from a variety of sources to ensure accuracy.

Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any time. This means that any information it contains at any particular time could be altered, perhaps with mischievous intent.

For that reason, I wouldn't donate.

M0nica It can be difficult to be sure, I agree; but if you use something like Google Scholar you will get peer reviewed papers and so on.

If you are going to get figures from several sources, you may as well not use one that could have been written by anyone.

I'm not saying I never use it - I do - but I wouldn't use it for work purposes, or quote from it. A lot of people think it is an encyclopaedia, and you would be surprised at how many students quote from it in essays - first years, anyway . They soon learn that doing so is not acceptable.

Snap, Marydoll

Yes I donate whenever they ask, about once a year. I use it all the time, although I'm not relying on it to be historically accurate. It's good enough for my purposes which is a quick check of something or someone and the background.

Yes.
Set up a DD well over a year ago,

I agree with Chestnut. I use it all the time for quick checks. I donate whenever they ask but really should do it a bit more often.

Yes, I do. Like others I cross check information where complete accuracy or veracity is important, but I use it so I feel it's only right that I should pay for my usage.

Yes I donated several years , then I got fed up with the constant begging from them the following year when I was unable to donate, and so I stopped donating completely. It hasn't stopped them begging for money this year again tho'... so far 4 times, and each time they say it'll be the last time they'll ask for money!

I think it depends on your subjecct and I have happily quoted Wikipedia in academic essays. DS is an academic and will accept Wikipedia references.

As with any reference material it needs to be checked and corroborated. It is preferable to plagiarism - just taking the Wikipedia reference, changing the language and making no attribution.

As I said, I think the problems with the veracity of Wikipedia have been exaggerated, most of the people who did the changes, have moved on to much more exciting topics, like fake news and conspiracy theories. The website now has millions of entries and for most ordinary purposes is reliable.

Remember it was the respectable and academically approved journal, The Lancet, that published and then withdrew Andrew Wakefield's false research project on the links between vaccination and autism - and it is not the only peer-reviewed journal to have published and later withdrawn articles that were proven to be deliberately mendacious.

I was recently researching a couple of obscure local worthies who died about 100 years ago and led lives of Victorian rectitude. I knew the source of the entries, already knew something about their lives and really doubt that anyone went into their entries and changed their education details and names of their wives and children.