A great service, either for research or random interest! (wikipedia.org)

Member Name: Lauren06

Product:	wikipedia.org
Date:	03/09/07 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: loads of articles, free and easy to use

Disadvantages: information isn't always correct

Wikipedia began in 2001 and since then has grown quickly to become one of the largest and most comprehensive reference websites available. It's basically an online encyclopedia, but unlike normal book encyclopedias it's much easier and faster to acces, as well as containing the most up to date information. Since I discovered this site I have used it simply to look up random things out of interest as well as for research at school, or to read articles in different languages.

The main page gives you the logo and around that are links to the different language homepages - these are the ones with the most articles. Below that are other language homepages which have less articles, each are listed under different headings eg. 10,000 + articles etc. When you click on a homepage link, you get a page with featured articles and also a news column. Below these are interesting facts like On this day and a Did you know? column. The good thing about this homepage is that it's fully up to date and changes daily. Along the left hand side of the screen are options like a toolbox and search bar and also the different languages the page you're looking at is available in. There are two search options: Go will take you to an exact article match for your search while search gives you various results to choose from.

Wikipedia is a free to use information service that anyone can contribute to. It is made up of many articles written by Wikipedia users, but which can also be edited by anyone who accesses the article. When you view an article there are several edit options and by clicking these you can add, alter and even delete information already in the article. Although this is a fair enough system it does mean that some articles may be unreliable. Because of this, I've heard warnings about using it to research work like essays for example, but I also know that it's probably the most popular way to get information for students. Articles also have references noted by numbers which take you to the webpage of the reference at the bottom of the article. There are also external links relating to the article below this, as well as related aricles within wikipedia. Many of the articles contain loads of information with pretty much everything known about the subject. They also have some pictures although not many, and a small info box at the top gives the important statistics, for example if the article is about a movie it has the release date. Although it's a free service Wikipedia takes donations from people to keep it running. It has articles on just about anything you can think of

Overall, I can recommend Wikipedia whether you need to do research for a project or just to look up something of interest. If you don't trust the information given in the article then you can always use the external links to find something more reliable. It has articles on just about anything you can think of, so give it a go next time you need information, or just get bored surfing the net!

Summary: this site has everything