I have used Wikipedia many times before, and have been warned by college professors not to use it as a reference source in a paper unless it is linked to a cited source. We give the same warning to students - that is is safest to use it as a springboard. I looked up the San Antonio River Walk because we are visiting my in-laws and were thinking about going down there. It was interesting that there is a warning on the first page before the article that the entire article does not contain any cited sources and therefore might not be totally reliable. It encourages the reader to add any reliable, cited sources possible. I do not know enough about the history of the river to decide whether or not the information presented is correct. On the discussion tab, the only comment was that the river walk is commonly misrepresented as one word "riverwalk" rather than the correct usage as two words "river walk." On the history tab, there are additions by high school groups and Neil Sperry about the history and foliage. There is quite a lengthy history but, again, I don't know enough to judge whether or not it is correct. It was interesting, though, because I usually don't explore those areas.
I posted on the Wiki using "Julie" for my page. It was very easy to post information, but without having to sign in, it seems that anyone could change your information. It was fun to look at the other pages. We just started a wiki for the librarians in my district this spring. It is an easy place that we can all post information, rather than emailing back and forth. I do like this aspect, and it is very similar to the groups and conferences in our district email. We can use it for minutes of meetings and shared documents. I think wikis can be another great time saver.
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