The 'You Can't Cite Wikipedia' Speech
Every 2000s student heard the teacher's solemn warning: Wikipedia is not a legitimate source. Every 2000s student had already used it, and would use it again that night. The workaround became a generational skill.
Wikipedia launched in January 2001 and by mid-decade had replaced the CD-ROM encyclopedias of the 90s as the default first stop for every school report. Teachers pushed back. The most famous stand came in January 2007, when Middlebury College's history department formally barred students from citing Wikipedia. Professor Neil Waters had caught the same error, traced to Wikipedia, in six final papers for his History of Early Japan class. The ban made national news and put institutional words to what every middle school teacher was already saying.
Students adapted rather than obeyed: read the Wikipedia article, then cite the sources listed at the bottom of it. The speech is still given today, even as Wikipedia's reputation for accuracy has improved. Everyone still starts their homework in the same place.
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