Wikipedia Vs. Encyclopedia

Pros to Wikipedia

A) Information ranges to almost any topic.

B) Great starting point when researching a subject.

C) Offers the layout of a topic- a rough run down on anything.

Pros to Encyclopedia

A) Credible and detailed information on a particular topic.

B) The Encyclopedias are constantly being updated to get the most up todate information.

Cons to Wikipedia

A) Anyone can post to on the website. This will leave you always questioning the information you read,

Cons to Encyclopedia

A) Doesn’t always consist of every aspect on a topic.  There could be certain aspects to the topic left out.

B) Could be out of date, more information that has been learned since the Encyclopedia was published.

I went to the school website and searched under Encyclopedia’s.  There were 4 encyclopedia’s listed in my search on under “Prisons in the U.S. Encyclopedia”. I was able to find all four of the Encyclopedia’s on the shelves.  I chose “Prisons” by Jeffrey Ferro.  I was unable to find any E-encyclopedia ‘s on my topic but I will attemt to dig deeper. The information I found on wikipedia seemed to more lightly mirror almost evey topic in the Encyclopedia; touching on topic overviews, improtant chronology of important points in history that focus on prisions and both are filled with many termanology pages on the topic.  The “Prisions” encyclopedia I feel would be more beneficial because there is more detail involved through out the context.