Is the internet rewriting history? BBC article

[Dragon Zachski]

Um... While I would sometimes settle for the minimum amount of sources (we didn't really have long essays in college) I did usually try to find at least two more than the minimum. Sometimes, I had to find more sources because the sources I did have didn't provide enough material.

Now, the one massive essay I wrote did require a lot of sources. I just... forget what that essay was about >>;

[The_L]

Most of my high school/college essays only required 3 - 5 sources, and it was painfully easy to use Wikipedia to find some good sources. The only ones that required more, required all of those sources to be from scholarly articles anyway, which meant Wikipedia was completely useless for source-finding on THOSE essays to begin with.

[mechtaur]

Oct 10, 2011 19:45:58 GMT -5 The_L said:

Most of my high school/college essays only required 3 - 5 sources, and it was painfully easy to use Wikipedia to find some good sources. The only ones that required more, required all of those sources to be from scholarly articles anyway, which meant Wikipedia was completely useless for source-finding on THOSE essays to begin with.

This.

[Admiral Lithp]

I don't know anything that says Wiki doesn't cite scholarly sources.

What about how Michelle Bachmann's supporters changed Wikipedia pages about the Founding Fathers to fit the pseudohistory from her speeches? That didn't get changed back.

What about when I turned Michelle Bachmann into a newt? She didn't get changed back.

Seriously? Mine have an average of 8 or 9, anything less and the tutor would laugh me out of the room.

Generally, it has served me well. It also seems to be the number where you can find all of the information you need, with everything overlapping with another source at some point.

Honestly, any essay that requires pushing the double-digits just seems like a retarded scavenger hunt.

[scotsgit]

Oct 11, 2011 17:15:21 GMT -5 Admiral Lithp said:

Seriously? Mine have an average of 8 or 9, anything less and the tutor would laugh me out of the room.

Generally, it has served me well. It also seems to be the number where you can find all of the information you need, with everything overlapping with another source at some point.

Honestly, any essay that requires pushing the double-digits just seems like a retarded scavenger hunt.

That's the way we did it: We had to contend with multiple sources due to the fact that Scottish history has been so badly studied in the past and our tutors wanted to get the message through that using one source (which was sadly common) wasn't the way forward.