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When I was a children’s librarian with NYPL’s Children’s Center at 42nd Street I conducted a lot of class visits with older kids (ages 9-12, usually). Sometimes these would be groups of kids learning how to do research using the library’s resources. For them I covered the usual databases and image library stuff, but also a kind of Why Google Is Not God portion where I showed them very convincing fake websites like the good old Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus site and All About Explorers. Using these sites I showed them why you need to take every site you encounter online with a grain of salt because someone might be mucking with you.
That’s Google. It should be noted, however, that I never did a Wikipedia portion of my talk. Not intentionally, of course. It just wasn’t as go-to a resource as it is today.
Librarians have a love/hate relationship with a lot of online resources and Wikipedia is no exception. We would be lying if we said we didn’t all use it sometimes, though. I mean, where else are you going to find a fairly accurate listing of the order in which the Rainbow Fairy books are meant to be read? And we understand that everyone should rely on two sources for information gathered there. So with all that in mind how are we to interpret the Amelia Bedelia-related Daily Dot piece I Accidentally Started a Wikipedia Hoax?
In the piece one EJ Dickson says that in college, while high during her Sophomore year, she and a friend went around creating false information on Wikipedia for children’s book authors. “It was the kind of ridiculous, vaguely humorous prank stoned college students pull.” For Peggy Parish they wrote that Amelia Bedelia was based on a Cameroon maid with a lot of hats.
First off, and before we go any further, I’m not entirely certain that the author understands the meaning of the word “accidentally” as found in the title. Perhaps it would be accurate if she had been falling asleep one night and in the course of her head falling forward onto the keyboard in an unconscious state it managed to type out a false Wikipedia entry and enter it without her knowledge or consent. Because the implication as it stands is that everything one does in college is “accidental” and therefore doesn’t count. Mmmhmm.
Personally I found it an odd little piece, but not overwhelmingly disturbing. A friend of mine felt very differently and emailed me the following:
”As a high college student, she very deliberately sabotaged a hugely-valuable communal resource, and now she finds it strange and hilarious that her lies are still doing damage 5 years later …and she’s blaming everybody but herself for the damage she’s done. Yes, Wikipedia will publish your lies if you tell them with a straight face. So will the New York Times, as has been proven over and over. This is why everyone should rely on at least two sources. This obvious fact doesn’t make it cool or funny or righteous to plant lies in either of these information sources. Now she’s off on a Oedipus-like righteous crusade to find the watchdog that fell asleep and let her lies go uncorrected. She might want to look in the mirror.”
That’s a bit stronger than I’d put it, but it’s another way of reading the piece. She does apologize, I should note, though she also admits to finding the entry funny not much later on.
And in case you were wondering, this magnificently wrong little tidbit about Amelia Bedelia does not appear in Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children’s Literature. I’m happy to say that Candlewick had us source and re-source every quote and fact in that book to the hilt. So no worries there. I do wonder what you take away from the article, however. Is the deliberate planting of lies the responsibility of the resource or the person doing the planting?
By: Gina Rullo,
on 3/25/2013
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It’s been 50 years since the original author of Amelia Bedelia, Peggy Parish, debuted the popular children’s book series. Peggy passed away in 1988 but her Amelia Bedelia legacy lives on. Herman Parish, Peggy’s nephew, took over the series after Peggy’s passing.
First Book recently interviewed Herman Parish about Amelia Bedelia turning 50 and why books are important for young readers.
First Book: How was a beloved character like Amelia Bedelia created? Was there any inspiration?
Herman Parish, current author of the of Amelia Bedelia children’s book series
Herman Parish: My Aunt Peggy Parish would often take things literally, not continually as Amelia Bedelia does, but enough times that one could understand how she could have come up with the character naturally. Peggy also drew inspiration from the class of third graders she taught. She would ask them to do something and a student would ask “Do you mean for us to do what you said?” When Peggy thought back on her exact words, she realized that if they were taken literally, there could be a problem. That got her to thinking that there might be a story there.
A couple of years after Peggy passed away, I heard an intriguing tale that may offer a clue as to why she made Amelia Bedelia a housekeeper. I was visiting Peggy’s hometown of Manning, South Carolina and spoke with one of her cousins. They had been playmates at their Grandparents house, where a big dinner was served every Sunday. The Grandparents were named — surprise, surprise — Mr. & Mrs. Rogers.
Mrs. Rogers had both a cook and a housekeeper. There was also a younger housekeeper whose main job was to look after the children because she was hopeless at housework. Peggy’s cousin recalled a time when this young housekeeper had to fill in for the older one. Mrs. Rogers told her to “sweep around the room.” This young housekeeper did just what she was told: she swept the edges of the room clean, but left the center of the room untouched. All of the children laughed at her mistakes. I asked this cousin if he had ever reminded Peggy about this maid. He said that when he did, Peggy did not say anything — she just smiled.
First Book: 50 years. Would you or your aunt ever think this series would continue on for so long?
Herman Parish: Peggy Parish passed away in November of 1988. All during that spring and summer, she and Amelia Bedelia were celebrated at national meetings and conventions of teachers and librarians because it was Amelia Bedelia’s 25th Birthday. So Peggy must have had a sense that the character she created would live on long after she was gone. I’m sure that Amelia Bedelia will be around long after I am gone, taking the world at face value as she does exactly what she is told to do.
First Book: Why are books so important for young readers?
Herman Parish: I’ll tell you what my Aunt Peggy Parish thought because I agree with her. She believed that there was a very narrow window when a child would be or could be interested in reading. If you missed that opportunity, it was very difficult to engage them later. She felt that reading was important because a child’s imagination can take them anywhere. It opens them up to all sorts of possibilities in their own lives.
First Book: Over 40% of children in the US do not have age-appropriate books in their homes, nor in classrooms or programs they attend due to the fact that they simply cannot afford new books. As someone who writes children’s books, how does this affect you?
Herman Parish: Well, I would be optimistic about it. I would say that whatever could be done to get just one book into the hands of those 40% would give them a big boost make a huge difference to them. Also, whatever books they get would be cherished and recalled fondly for years to come. As a writer, I do my best to write the best books that I can. That way, if one of those children in the 40% happen to read one of my books, they will have fun. Reading what you like to read one book at a time will develop the habit of simply liking to read, which will be with them for the rest of their lives. I only hope that children would find my books fun to read, which would encourage them to keep reading and seek out other books they would enjoy.
First Book: What was your favorite children’s book?
Herman Parish: My Aunt Peggy sent me a copy of The Cat in the Hat when it was first published. At that time, my father was in the Air Force and we were stationed in England. I remember thinking that the Cat himself must be an American because he was so brash and bold, which is how the British saw us. I identified with this character as a role model, as I was born in Texas and wore cowboy boots and jeans in the first grade at an otherwise tame British primary school. The other kids probably thought that I was the Cat!
Amelia Bedelia books are available on the First Book Marketplace, a website exclusively for educators and program leaders that work with kids in need.
By: Laura,
on 10/21/2011
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I know, it seems crazy to talk about the holiday season already. But this is also the point where we start putting in book orders for the latest titles and replacing old books as well. So let’s jump in and talk about some of the newest books for the holiday season:
MARY ENGELBREIT’S NUTCRACKER by Mary Engelbreit (On-sale: 11.1.11). Download the memory game
THE HAPPY ELF by Harry Connick Jr., illustrated by Dan Andreasen (On-sale now). Based on the song by Harry Connick Jr., this comes with a CD. You can also watch the video.
A CHRISTMAS GOODNIGHT by Nola Buck, illustrated by Sarah Jane Wright (On-sale now). In its starred review, Publishers Weekly said that this book “serves special status, to be kept off-season with other holiday decorations and then brought out each year at Christmas.”
THE LITTLEST EVERGREEN by Henry Cole (On-sale now). School Library Journal calls this “a fine Christmas choice with an environmental message.”
FANCY NANCY: SPLENDIFEROUS CHRISTMAS by Jane O’Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser (On-sale now). Download the event guide.
Need to replace books in your collection? Here are some possible titles that you may need to re-order:
By: Laura,
on 7/28/2011
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I know that, for some of you librarians, it feels like summer (and summer reading) will never end. But I was visiting my family in California recently and my sister-in-law mentioned that my niece is starting school on August 10th! August 10th! That seems so early, doesn’t it? Here in NYC, the public schools don’t start until after Labor Day. What about your part of the country? When does school start?
With school starting just around the corner, here are some new books to consider adding to your library to refresh and update your collections:
KINDERGATORS: HANDS OFF, HARRY! by Rosemary Wells
This is an excellent picture book recommendation for kids with personal space issues.
AMELIA BEDELIA’S FIRST FIELD TRIP by Herman Parish, illustrated by Lynne Avril
Take a look at activity ideas for your classroom and library.
PETE THE CAT: ROCKING IN MY SCHOOL SHOES by Eric Litwin, illustrated by James Dean
It begs to be sung out loud – check out the video! You can also download activities.
And for those of you librarians with another couple weeks of summer reading, hang in there!
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By:
Gail Maki Wilson,
on 2/8/2011
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How one right turn, leads to landing an agent.
On this journey to get published it seems the road has been nothing short of long and winding, yet just one little turn can send you down an unexpected path. I've always believed in fate. I've always believed things happen for a reason. The last
couple of years I'm having a hard time figuring out what that reason might be, but I'm hoping one day it will all make perfect sense. So when a simple chain events leads me smack-dab in the hands of "my" new
agent, I have to think there just might be something to this fate business after all.
Here's how the story goes.
It's the middle of the month and I'm in the middle of a rut. I'm going to
work each day, trying to figure out when I'll have time to work on new stories, feeling a little low, needing a little inspiration. I haven't been out for awhile, when some people at work plan a Happy Hour get-together. Perfect I think. It's been weeks, maybe months since I went out. I'm ready to go! So I accept. Then wouldn't you know it, the very next day I get an email invite from my local illustrators group for a meeting. On the same day! At the same time! We hadn't had a meeting for months, maybe six or seven months, and now we're getting together on the same day I already made a commitment for. I'm thinking what bad luck I have, wishing they were on different days.
So I go the the Happy Hour. It's close to work, which is close to home. We get done earlier than I expect. Now, I'm the type of person who doesn't like to miss out things. My Mom says I'm always trying to fit 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound bag. (Actually I don't think she uses the word potatoes.) I'm on my way home believing that's where I'm heading when I approach the freeway on-ramp sign, next thing I know I'm making a quick call to a friend to find out how far into the meeting they are. Twenty minutes later I'm walking into the meeting. Late, but walking in, ready to hear what every one's been up to. I knew Molly would be there sharing her portfolio and her recent experiences in New York City, I just didn't know I'd be there too.
Molly Idle won the
SCBWI portfolio award grand prize back in August. As part of her grand prize she won a trip to New York to meet with a few Art Directors from major houses and tonight she had stories to tell!
Lynne Avril was there too, which always makes the meetings a hoot and a half! She had some original art to show. Part of her
Amelia Bedelia books. I'm always amazed at the amount of work she can do in a short amount of time.
As the meeting is wrapping up I'm having a discussion with Molly, who is also querying agents. She mentions an agent that I had queried awhile back but never heard from. I decide the next day that I should query that agent again, maybe she never got the initial query? Within hours I have a reply. She looked at my website, calls my work beautiful, but passes. Again, I hear my work is too realistic. I send her a thank you. (I normally don't do this. I figu
By:
Phoebe,
on 11/4/2010
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By Phoebe Vreeland, The Children’s Book Review
Published: November 4, 2010
Thanksgiving is a time for pie. Pie makes me think of Harold and his purple crayon. Remember that picnic on the sandy beach? “There was nothing but pie. But there were all nine kinds of pie that Harold liked best.” My daughter and I love to imagine what all the different fillings could be. Who doesn’t love freshly baked pie, the most amazingly delectable dessert that fills the home with its tantalizing aroma? It’s such a perfect vehicle for a scoop or dollop of some cool creamy topping. Kids love to help bake, especially mixing, licking their sweet, sticky fingers and rolling out pie dough.
Here follows a list of picture books—all about pie—to share with your little ones. Some simply get your mouth watering, but most are laced with a secret ingredient. There is a reminder about abundance, a lesson on humility, and a tale of perseverance. You will also find a trip around the world, a juicy alphabet primer and a cautionary tale for the literal-minded—from Amelia Bedelia, of course. A few even include a recipe so good that you won’t need to invite a very hungry moose and deserving porcupine to help you finish.
All for Pie, Pie for All
by David Martin (Author), Valeri Gorbachev (Illustrator)
Reading level: Ages 0-5
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Candlewick; Reprint edition (August 12, 2008)
Source: Library
Publisher’s synopsis: In this merry, multi-species story cooked up with folksy warmth and humor, everybody gets a piece of the pie — and then some.
Grandma Cat makes a delicious apple pie, and there’s plenty for everyone — and even a piece left over. Grandma Mouse finds a piece of apple pie, and there’s plenty for everyone — and even crumbs left over. Grandma Ant spies some crumbs of apple pie, and there’s plenty for everyone. But what’s left over after cats, mice, and ants have had their fill? Little readers will eat up this scrumptious, gently math-related story that’s as sweet and satisfying as a fresh-baked dessert.
Add this book to your collection: All for Pie, Pie for All
The Apple Pie Tree
Amelia Bedelia, the beloved adult character from the 14 Amelia Bedelia stories by Peggy Parish has reappeared in this story by Ms. Parrish's nephew, Herman Parish. It is illustrated by Lynne Avril. In this prequel, we find Amelia at her first day of school. All of the characteristics that make Amelia Bedelia entertaining as an adult who takes things a bit too literally are on display here. From this story we are to assume that Amelia's silliness as an adult was part of her personality from the beginning.
When the teacher tells Amelia to "glue herself to her seat" - that is literally what Amelia does. The following passage is typical of Amelia's take on the world:
At last it was time for lunch.
"Do you feel like a sloppy joe?" asked the lady behind the lunch counter.
"No!" said Amelia Bedelia. "Do I look like one?"
"Here you are," said the lady. "I hope your eyes aren't bigger than your stomach."
"Me too," said Amelia Bedelia. "They would not fit in my head."
As in all the Amelia Bedelia stories, Amelia enjoys great adventures while learning something new and demonstrating to readers that there is more than one way to interpret something. This story takes the familiar first-day-of-school confusion and turns it on its head. A very fun read.
To find out more about Amelia Bedelia, visit www.ameliabedelia.com
You can order the book here.
I love it when I read a great book and then find another book by the same author with a similar plot. Sometimes I get so familiar with an author that I can predict the plot of a book before I open it.
Here's an example:
Basic Harry Potter Plot Summary
- Harry is at the Dursleys for the summer and he’s miserable.
- An event happens before Harry gets to school. After it’s over, Harry visits Diagon Alley (or Mrs. Weasley visits it for him) and takes the train to Hogwarts.
- Harry arrives at Hogwarts and finds out who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is (who is always someone Harry’s met before school started).
- Harry gets a lot of homework and Quidditch practice and games happen.
- Major events occur on Halloween and/or Christmas.
- Harry, Ron and Hermione are trying to solve a mystery.
- Harry and friends study for exams. In the afternoon after the last exam, the answer to the mystery is suddenly discovered.
- The climax of the book occurs and something terrible or miraculous happens. Harry meets Voldemort and narrowly avoids death. The climax lasts all evening and takes up several chapters of the book. At the end of it, Harry ends up in the hospital wing.
- Dumbledore explains it all.
- Harry deep in thought about whatever happened during the climax, takes the train home and dreads another summer with the Dursleys.
Of course, there are deviations to this structure in various books. Harry doesn’t take the train to Hogwarts in Chamber of Secrets, he doesn’t meet Voldemort in Prisoner of Azkaban (although Voldemort is discussed during the climax), he doesn’t play Quidditch in Goblet of Fire, etc. But basically, if you think about it, the events listed above happen in Books One through Six.
**Begin spoiler alert. Don’t read the comment below unless you’ve read the Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.**
One of the things I love in Book Seven is that Dumbledore STILL explains it all. He doesn’t let a minor thing like death stand in his way of summing up the entire plot and explaining every mystery that’s happened during the book.
**End spoiler alert**
Stock plot summaries can work for lots of books. Take a look at this one:
Basic Amelia Bedelia Plot Summary
It only takes five steps.
- Mrs. Rogers gives Amelia Bedelia a list of things to do and then leaves the house.
- Amelia Bedelia bakes a pie before she starts working on the list.
- Amelia Bedelia does every item on the list and takes each task literally.
- Mrs. Rogers comes home to find that the house is a big mess and that Amelia Bedelia hasn’t done anything correctly.
- Amelia Bedelia’s pie makes everything better again.
This always makes me wonder. Hasn’t Mrs. Rogers figured out by now that Amelia Bedelia is an incompetent maid? Why doesn’t she hire someone else? Amelia Bedelia can open a bakery and contract on the side with Mrs. Rogers to bake pies.
And it's not always plot devices. Some authors seem to have lists of characters that often appear in their books. Here are several reoccurring characters from one of my favorite authors:
L.M. Montgomery's Stock Characters
For those of you who have just read Anne of Green Gables series, believe me, these characters surface in nearly every other L.M. Montgomery book.
Primary characters
- A female ingénue who is deeply in love with the house she lives in. She often has a teaching degree and sometimes a college degree (unusual for the time period). She has a creative imagination and writes stories and sells them to magazines for a small profit. She is usually (but not always) an orphan. The story is always told for her point of view.
- A handsome, perfect male who grew up with the female ingénue. He crosses signals with her multiple times and moves away (a letter is usually lost or destroyed.) But he always manages to come back three pages from the end of the book at the perfect moment and declare his undying love.
- An older female who takes care of the ingénue in a strict and no-nonsense way. She is usually not the ingénue's mother.
- An older man who falls in love with the ingénue. He proposes and is engaged to the ingénue, but she only sees him as a friend and she eventually breaks the engagement. (Not in the Anne books, but in many others).
Secondary characters (optional, but usually included)
- A wonderful housekeeper that the family couldn’t live without who has a mother that occasionally gets ill.
- A gossipy female neighbor who does beautiful needlework and feels there's a enormous difference between Presbyterians and Methodists. (Presbyterians are always favored.)
- A female friend who's had a rough life and only opens up to the ingénue.
- A female friend or sister that dithers for years over which of two identical men she should marry, and then falls in love with a third man and marries him immediately.
- A rich, crotchety elderly woman who dies and leaves her fortune to the ingénue.
- Small children who have big imaginations and provide amusing stories about adventures and local people. (The stories are typically the same from book to book.)
- A town doctor who makes house calls. (In the Anne books, he’s a primary character).
- A town minister.
Setting
- A farm on Prince Edward Island near a small town, where everybody’s primary occupation seems to be keeping track of the entire life histories of everyone else.
There are a few obvious exceptions. The Blue Castle is the only book that is not set on Prince Edward Island. And the male hero and the ingenue are together and happy for half the book and not just the last three pages. And Kilmeny of the Orchard is an exception because it's told from the man's point of view, not the woman's.
Conclusions
I love these kinds of books when they're written by a favorite author. Sometimes it's great to find many variations on the same theme. And just because stock characters or basic plot points are used, doesn't mean the books aren't original and delightful.
Also, it makes me intrigued about an author's life and when I see obvious patterns, I like to research them. A lot of it tends to be based in fact as authors frequently write what they know.
Compare the stock characters to L.M. Montgomery's actual life. Her mother died shortly after she was born and she was raised by farm on Prince Edward Island by her grandparents. She had both a teaching license and a college degree. She fell in love with the perfect boy- someone she had grown up with (her cousin) but didn't marry him and married an older man who was a Presbyterian minister instead.
Unfortunately, though, I'll never get to read a Harry Potter book again for the first time. And after a trip to Prince Edward Island and a careful search through tons of used bookstores there, I think I've exhausted all the new-to-me L.M. Montgomery books. But, by knowing the formula, I can also appreciate departures from it. I love Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Blue Castle, precisely because they break the mold.
And sometimes, only one book really rises to the top. I liked The DaVinci Code and read other books by Dan Brown. I was disappointed that not only were they all the same, but The Da Vinci Code (which still had flaws) was the best.
A Plea
If you found this post by googling "Anne of Green Gables characters" or "Harry Potter plot summary," please don't use what I've written above for any kind of informational purposes. They're just generalizations, and I hope that you read the books discussed above if you haven't before. Despite what I said, each one truly is unique and I've enjoyed every one. (Some more than others, of course).
Your Turn
How about you? Is there an author whose plot summary, typical setting and stock characters you know even before you start reading one of their books? Post it below. If you chose to write your own post about it, I'd love to see it and please include the link in the comments.
I’m on the side of the prankster. Partly because the Internet has always been a big, none-too- squeaky-clean pool without a lifeguard–indeed, it prides itself on his openness and democracy; anyone can say what they like, whether it’s true or articulate or intelligent or not. If you want information on a subject written by experts, double-checked for accuracy, you open the World Book Encyclopedia. This was even more likely to be true when the writer was in college–I think as we become lazier about research and more dependent on Google, we’re asking the Internet to be more respectable.
But I’m also on the side of the prankster, because the world needs a little mischief. No dogs were killed, for crying out loud; nobody fell off a ten-story roof because there was no barricade. What we have here is one more excuse for wild gesticulation and crying out, “This is why you can’t trust the Internet!”
And what’s so bad about that?
Very interesting point. I like what you say about how we’re asking the Internet to be more responsible. Is it a crazy wish? Is there an understanding with Wikipedia that we are responsible for our own actions, or does pranking reveal that we shouldn’t grow reliant on sources that are edited by “the people”. One point that I don’t think she makes in the article is when this happened. Wikipedia’s source checking has grown far more stringent in recent years (to the point where legitimate information is deleted quite regularly along with the wrong stuff). So where does that fit in to all this?
I use Wikipedia, but I use it with an awareness of its flaws. I like to check in on the entry about my grandfather and see the errors — always something different! I like seeing the entries that have obviously slanted, bias, almost flowery language about certain subject areas. I like it because it reinforces the weaknesses of Wikipedia and just how, and how not, it can be relied on.
That said, I find this prank really annoying. It’s very tiring living in a world where people are basically saying, “don’t rely on anything you read or hear, ever ever ever” — and not because of bias, or history being written by the winners, but just because people don’t do their research, don’t care, or think it’s funny to get someone to believe their lie.
It’s like the trolls have won.
I’m not sure the “check two sources” rule is particularly helpful. You can often find the same incorrect information in multiple sources, either because one got it from the other or because they both used the same original source. I think it must be really hard to teach good research skills to kids, because so much of it relies on high-level critical thinking and judgment calls based on many years of experience.
“In the end, I don’t feel as bad about my Amelia Bedelia Wikipedia lie, and what it might say about my integrity both as a journalist and as a person, as I do about what it says about the future of information in the digital age. Joseph Goebbels once said that if you tell a lie enough times, it makes it true. ”
I find it pretty disturbing, as the writer seems to look at this more as a thought experiment than a break of social contract. There is a lesson on how quickly misinformation can spread, but it doesn’t absolve the creator of the lie from their act.
I dunno – it seems pretty benign to me. Sure, I use Wikipedia all the time, both personally and in my professional library work. But I think a better rule than the “two sources” rule is that Wikipedia doesn’t count as a “source” at all — if you find a fact on Wikipedia that you want to use–say, that Amelia Bedelia is based on a maid from Cameroon–check *Wikipedia’s* sources/footnotes. If they don’t have any, just don’t use it.
The point is that yes, in this particular case, we know the identity and nature of the prank and prankster, but on the rest of Wikipedia, we never know unless we actually check the sources.
The hoax edit was made in January 2009, it was corrected right after the article was published this week, over 5 years year. By 2009, the project did have much higher expectations for citation than it had in, say, 2005. The article doesn’t mention that that from 2008-10, the same article also had a list of fake Amelia Bedelia movies on it; that one did get caught.
I have unearthed numerous hoaxes on wikipedia, but I still find them funny. Its heartening that many people are saying “THATZ NOT OK” to what she did — if it is socially uncool to vandalize wikipedia, it will probably happen less often. However, exposure of these hoaxes will also hopefully get Wikipedia to further improve its processes to combat them. It doesn’t have to be this way. Everyone can edit, but there’s no reason every edit can’t be reviewed systematically.
It IS hard to teach these skills to kids. I teach argument-based research to college freshmen and the challenge is to convince them why thorough fact checking matters. I find that they generally don’t ask enough questions and tend to take things at face value. We talk bout the value of Wikipedia as a springboard for further research. I focus on the source list at the bottom of the entry and talk to my students about using those sources for more in depth analysis, then using those source’s sources to delve even more deeply. This demonstrates the importance of sourcing their own writing and help them understand how documented fact checking strengthens the credibility of what they have to say, given the time that they have invested in crafting an argument.
Sources are complicated things. Two, three, however many — no matter how impressive, they can still be wrong. In my research for Africa is my Home, my as-yet-unpublished Little Tramp book (Charlie Chaplin’s that is), and my current Alice project, I’ve found all sorts of errors. Therefore, I would suggest a good stance is general wariness of all sources, wikiepdia or not. Also, I wouldn’t tar all wikipedia entries. Some are done by scholars, scientists, and the like and are excellent. Better for kids to learn to know how to determine how a fact is more likely to be accurate. I think this story simply tells you how hard it is. The issue to my mind is less wikipedia and more general caution.
Beautifully put.