Research Article: "Credibility Judgment and Verification Behavior of College Students Concerning Wikipedia"
Authors: Soon Lim and Christine Simon
Source: First Monday
This study examines credibility judgments in relation to peripheral cues and genre of Wikipedia articles, and attempts to understand user information verification behavior based on the theory of bounded rationality. Data were collected employing both an experiment and a survey at a large public university in the midwestern United States in Spring 2010. This study shows some interesting patterns. [Emphasis Ours] It appears that the effect of peripheral cues on credibility judgments differed according to genre. Those who did not verify information displayed a higher level of satisficing than those who did. Students used a variety of peripheral cues of Wikipedia. The exploratory data show that peer endorsement may be more important than formal authorities for user generated information sources, such as Wikipedia, which calls for further research.
Filed under: Data Files, Resources
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
Archives
ADVERTISEMENT