Ahoy All,

Just wondering as to the accuracy of Wikipedia as a source
of research in regards to history and say especially info
on ship types, classes and specific prototype details
and development.

A lot of info that I have read on Wikipedia, doesn't exactly
correspond to some of the books I have read, written by
the better authors.

So which is right?

Cheers,
Joe

Personally when I'm trying to find something quickly then Wikipedia isn't too bad, I feel. But for research for a project then I tend to keep them towards the tail end of the used sites. They have cleaned up a bit and in general they aren't too too far off but they are still able to be edited by anyone. Admittedly I do it occasionally, editing a Wikipedia article. Although I tend to almost never touch the actual information but instead I'll correct a bit of grammar and spelling in some places. Again, Wikipedia is ok but it shouldn't be the go-to resource unless absolutely necessary. There are many more more reputable websites to get your information from. Also, if you do want to use Wikipedia, check the sources. If there are any sourcing concerns there should be a dialog box at the top of the page stating so.

Also, with almost everything you will have conflicting information. You just have to take it with a grain of salt and do more research into it. If more resources support one argument over the other, in my opinion, I will lean towards that argument with "but there are conflicting arguments like such-and-such." Just need to do research and attempt to figure out what you want to believe in in a way. For all we can know in some cases, both accounts could be correct or they could both be wrong completely.

Joe, totally agree with Michael.

Use Wiki for a quick check on something but never for an in depth research or for finding accurate details. Find a good website that others recommend and use that but also use your paper reference, books are still the way to go for a lot of things!

Thanks....Michael & Luciano

Cheers,
Joe