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Many people shy away from Wikipedia once they find out that it can be edited by anyone. However, if you've ever tried making an article on yourself, or adding a ridiculous fact onto the entry on George Bush, you'll know how quickly any unsourced lies are removed by the loyal (and somewhat fierce) Wikipedia editors. The fact that Wikipedia usually requires information to be backed up by references also ensures that the content is safe. However, some errors can sometimes get included (as they can in a published book, also) and so it is best to verify your research from another source if necessary.

The search feature on Wikipedia isn't ideal. For instance, it does not usually pick up misspellings, or search terms that are not the article titles themselves but related statements. I would therefore advise using Google to search Wikipedia, either by searching for "Wikipedia Topic" or using Advanced Search to say only search within the subdoman of "http://en.wikipedia.org". This can often help you find the article you want when Wikipedia's own search fails.

Remember also to visit disambiguation pages. For example, if you were searching for the Chicago Nightclub "Excalibur", and you visited the Wikipedia entry on "Excalibur", you would get a page about the legend of King Arthur and his sword. However, at the top of this page is a note saying "For other uses, see Excalibur (disambiguation)." If you follow this link it will take you to a list of entries about other things entitled "Excalibur", and you would find the entry on the nightclub there.

I recommend Wikipedia as a first port of call for any research. For simple tasks it can tell you all the information you need, and for more complicated projects it can give you help focussing your further research and telling you what to look for. As Wikipedia grows with more and more contributions in different fields, it is becoming more and more useful.

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