Lily Pop Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 http://xmltwo.ibo.org/publications/DP/Group6/d_6_theat_tsm_1408_1/pdf/Example05_report_en.pdf Above is a link to a Task 2 example published by IB. On the first page, the student cites Wikipedia. In schools in the U.S., we are taught never, under any circumstance, to cite Wikipedia. Is this the same in other countries? If so, why does IB consider it to be a reliable source? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emilia1320 Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 According to my IB counselor IB doesn't recognize Wikipedia as source. I don't think its good to use it did IB recognize it or not. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alefal Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 Wikipedia is as reliable as the people writing the articles - which could essentially be anyone. In other words, not so reliable. In addition, it is often a tertiary source, which one also should avoid as far as possible in academic settings. Now, Wikipedia might be a good place to start your research, but it's not a good reference in and by itself. It also doesn't really say in the document that IB considers it a reliable source, only that it was used in that example. Now, it is an example of a Task 2 in Theatre, but is it a good or bad example? From what you've given us, at least, that is unknown. No matter what, it's unlikely to be a perfect example where nothing can be improved, but since the document isn't annotated, we can't really know whether IB actually thinks it as a reliable source or not. A third point is that it might be possible that they are not as strict regarding sources in Theatre than in other subjects. I know for a fact that a Wikipedia source in a history essay would not be positive at all. This is also the case for all the other subjects I took. However, it might be so that in Theatre, they are not as strict about it since they emphasise something else? I wouldn't know, never studied theatre myself, but that is a possible explanation if they actually state somewhere that, in that particular example, it is okay. No matter what, though, I would recommend only using Wikipedia as a starting point for research, and you should never reference Wikipedia directly in academic essays and works. Wikipedia articles often have a number of sources they have used - use those sources instead. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
FractiousArrogance Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 I have been going to an IB school which also follows the Primary and the Middle year program. Our school does not allow us to use Wikipedia as a main source. We are allowed to use it as a place to get basic ideas of the context, however, it can not be considered as a main source for our work. This is all due to the fact that anyone is able to change the information as he likes, whether it be for nationalistic pride or personal believes. Then again, one could say that all the information available can be biased. tl;dr: Steer away from Wikipedia, it's not so reliable and I doubt the IB considers it reliable. 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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