Wikipedia: The Lowdown From Musiclogists

[Chupacabra]

This question is directed to the well studied people on this forum (You know who you are, and so do I):
For those of us who are not as devoted to the study of music, whether in the context of Afro-Cuban or otherwise; how would Wikipedia be judged as a resource for accurate information at a GENERALIZED level that students and interested people can access?

[ABAKUA]

Really depends from article to article, anyone who has internet can upload or write an article without any sort of academic or factual substance to back up anything they write on Wikipedia.
My girlfriend has completed her Bachelor of Music and is now onto completing her Honours year. Her lecturers constantly warn to never use Wikipedia as a source of reference.

[davidpenalosa]

Hi Chupacabra,
I think that Wikipedia is a reasonably reliable and convenient resource for information at a GENERALIZED level.

Abakua, I agree with your girlfriend that students and scholars should not use Wikipedia as a source of reference. In other words, you should never cite it as a source in a thesis, magazine article or book. It has not been vetted properly. It's not that type of resource.

This past year I have been geeking out on the research of clave-related issues on the internet. What is the most reliable source on the subject of African-based rhythms and Afro-Cuban music? There’s no one answer for that. I have found Wikipedia to be helpful with extraneous questions, like the ethnic make-up of Zambia, or details concerning the history of the slave trade. Usually Wikipedia can point me in the right direction for gathering more data from more thorough sources. It often lists good sources you can pursue.

In regards to specific music issues, I have read things on Wikipedia that I dispute, but I dispute some of the things I’ve read by Gunther Schuller and John Miller Chernoff too. While I have greatly benefited from ethnomusicologists’ studies of African music and books on Afro-Cuban music, I take issue with certain assertions by some of those esteemed authors.

So, my advise is to go ahead and use Wikipedia for convenience, but don’t rely on it exclusively and don’t ever quote Wikipedia as a source. If you are going to repeat something you have read or heard, cite your source. For example, you can say "according to John Santos", or "according to A.M. Jones", but saying "according to Wikipedia" will not win you respect.
-David