Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, which provides information on a wide range of subjects. But should you be using Wikipedia in family history?
About Wikipedia articles
Let’s look first at how the articles on Wikipedia are written. This explanation comes from Wikipedia itself. It is not my opinion about it, I have just abbreviated it by including extracted quotations.
Wikipedia is ‘written collaboratively by largely anonymous volunteers, anyone with internet access (and who has not been blocked) can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism.’
There are policies and guidelines for contributors, ‘although editors do not need to be familiar with them before contributing.’ Content should not be original, it must be ‘verifiable by published sources.’ ‘Because anyone can improve Wikipedia, it has become more comprehensive, clear, and balanced than any other encyclopedia.’ [1]
As a result of the process by which articles in Wikipedia are written, it is my experience that the quality and reliability of the information is variable. Some articles are comprehensive and cite many sources, while others are less comprehensive or lack source citations. I also find that most articles appear to choose to cite online sources, rather than seeking out more reliable sources. For example, they might cite a newspaper article rather than a death certificate for information about the date of death.
What is Wikipedia useful for?
I do use Wikipedia in my family history research. Articles about places, for example, help me locate places that I am not familiar with. They provide information about jurisdictions, geography, the languages spoken and so on, and they tend to provide a summary of the history of the place.
Articles about famous people provide information about birth, death, marriage and family relationships, and a summary of their major achievements.
How to use Wikipedia in family history
In family history, we follow the principles of conducting a reasonably exhaustive search and using the best sources. If we just used Wikipedia, then those principles have not been met. Based on Wikipedia’s own description of how the articles are written, it clearly could not be considered the best source for family history. And, using Wikipedia without verifying the information with other sources would not be conducting a reasonably exhaustive search.
However, Wikipedia is a useful source for scoping your research and obtaining research clues. Just remember, though, that the sources cited in an article are also not necessarily the best sources. Check them by all means, but also seek out and utilise the sources that provide the best quality information and evidence for your research purposes.
Citing Wikipedia in family history
If you just use Wikipedia for scoping and obtaining research clues, then there is no need to cite Wikipedia as you should be citing the sources that provide information that you use. If you do extract any information from Wikipedia, you should be finding better quality sources to verify that information and I believe that it is those sources that you should cite.
More information
For more of my articles on improving your search techniques, go to the Research page.
For more articles about analysing sources, go to the Analyse page.
Source cited:
Anonymous, ‘Wikipedia: About’, Wikipedia, last edited 20 April 2023.
Post last updated 3 June 2024
Interesting post and I enjoyed reading it. I share many of the views you do but a well sourced and researched Wikipedia article I believe is a viable source to use and cite. Wikipedia has come a long way since it started and I am the first to agree it still has progress to make.