The announcement by a small college in Vermont that they are banning the use of Wikipedia was, in one word, embarrassing. Middlebury College said last week that students in some departments are no longer allowed to cite the popular, user-edited site as a source in their papers. The announcement was picked up by several education news sources as though it were a huge deal, but what we find to be more troubling is the fact that universities are having such a problem at all.

A university’s decision to ban Wikipedia as a source in college papers should not be regarded as a groundbreaking new rule. Forbidding the use of the Web site for papers should be common practice already. What is a major concern is the fact that students have actually been citing it as a credible source in their papers. We ask, who are these people? Who is still under the impression that the Web site is entirely accurate?

SF State has enough of a problem with students citing Wikipedia that several professors start off the semester specifically telling students they cannot use the site in papers, to which many rebuke that they are simply using it for a starting off point. Citing it in your paper says otherwise. It implies that the starting point was never left. It is ridiculous that some students have not learned that they cannot get all of their sources off of a website that is forever changing and notoriously inaccurate, and insulting to the professors whom they apparently think won’t notice.

College students around the country voiced their opinions on blogs about the topic. Most felt that while banning such a site is acceptable and should be done by all colleges and departments, the need to do so is what is worrisome. They also remarked on what they felt was an unnecessary proposal by Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens, who is so disturbed by the possibility of future generations of misinformed students that he wants Wikipedia banned in elementary and high schools. If students aren’t learning how to use websites as a reference by the time they start writing research papers, we have a problem with our teachers.

Don’t get us wrong, Wikipedia can and should be used, but with discretion, and only as a means to get an overview of a topic without having to dig through documents. As college students, we should understand that our research does not stop there. We should know that rather than citing the website, we need to take the next step and actually scroll down to the bottom of the entry, review Wikipedia’s sources, and move on from there to continue our research. Is that so hard? Any student that does not understand the fallibility of the popular website should not even be held responsible enough to write a proper college paper, much less attend college.

By the time we reach college, we should understand the difference between accurate information from a credible source and that which comes from a website that is updated by anyone who logs on.