When we search for something online, Wikipedia often offers the top result. We are happy to receive the answer so quickly and are likely to believe Wikipedia over other sites on the Internet. Yet all articles on Wikipedia are not of equal quality. How can we assess the quality of an article that we are reading? In this course, we will explore how Wikipedia works, what are the principles on which it operates, and how to understand the quality of what we are reading.

Class members may identify topics that interest them, assess the quality of what’s currently on Wikipedia, and identify what could be done to make improvements.

This course is for those who enjoy the pursuit of knowledge, who rely on Wikipedia, who wish to know the reliability of what they are reading and who may wish to leave the state of knowledge in Wikipedia better than they found it.