Beware the Wiki
Ever heard of Wikipedia? In case you’re one of the 6 or 7 internet users who haven’t, Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that allows anyone to log in and edit, update, or create articles. Their reasoning is that if you have the whole world updating your encyclopedia, it’s always going to be up to date. They’re not completely stupid, however. If you post something as fact on Wikipedia, you’d better be able to back it up with some form of documentation - a book, manuscript, or website - or your changes will be sent to the great bit-bucket in the sky.
Now, just think about this:
Suppose I make up some outlandish story about how beer pong tables were actually invented in the fourth century by early members of the Roman Catholic church. Let’s say I refine my fictional story and post it on a website. Next, I go to Wikipedia and cite my own story as fact when I put a page about party games into Wikipedia.
It’s no wonder that a lot of places, like my daughter’s school, won’t accept Wikipedia as a reliable source for use with reports and such.
