Wikipedia vs. Textbook

                After the activity we did on Friday in class, I had the opportunity to compare and contrast the information sources of the website Wikipedia versus the old-fashioned textbook. In my opinion, Wikipedia was definitely a clearer, more in depth and involved source of information. Any topic that you type in automatically brings up a page consisting of every possible bit of description for it. It is an organized website that separates the sections of information on a side bar and allows you to navigate quickly from section to section. It provides helpful images and also provides links to certain words that an average person would probably not understand to help you further comprehend the reading. It does not use difficult language or diction so it allows people of all levels of education to read and understand the text. In addition to this, it is an easily accessible website that can be obtained within the click of a button. The textbook, on the other hand, is a very boring and less exaggerated source of information. It does not provide the details and bulk of information that could be found on Wikipedia. Also, the book can sometimes physiologically seem more tedious than just looking something up on Wikipedia. Because the book has so many topics to cover, it does not focus too much of its time on one certain aspect and provides general information where as Wikipedia specializes in whatever specific topic you decide to research.

            Both of these sources of information provide adequate details and are great ways to research topics. The book is sometimes good when dealing with learning about vast amounts of info and more focusing on learning about bulks of things vs. Wikipedia is website that pinpoints certain researched topics and becomes very involved and sometimes excessive in its details. Overall, I would prefer a class based on the book over Wikipedia because although Wikipedia appears to have many pros, our AP world class is not based on learning every aspect of one miniscule topic. We are focused on learning immense amounts of information about hundreds of societies and just learning the main, important facts about civilizations. Also, the textbook has all the information in one book, is tangible, easy to take notes from, and take from place to place (and it’s not even close to as heavy as my AP bio book which is a plus!).