Good grief! I just finished reading this article http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm. I am a little stunned. Not at how wrong wikis can be, but by how they can affect lives. Let me start by staying-I still am a fan of wikis. For the most part they are good sources for quick info. However, now I understand why it was frowned upon to list it as a citation. In wikipedia, we found out that John Seigenthaler ( a former assistant to Robert Kennedy) aided in the assassination of John and Bobby Kennedy. Well, the source was wrong--very very wrong. This poor man was so upset and for a good reason.
Since wikis are available for anyone to edit, who's to know the truth? For the most part in my experience the sources are pretty good and pretty accurate. This incident, however, proves that wikis may leave something to be desired. The very charm about wikis is that multiple perspectives and knowledge can be shared and edited. Should they employ a cross referencer?
For librarians, there are many wikis that can be used that do not involve that type of information where names and reputations can be ruined. It is harmless and I believe that librarians would not run into much trouble with it. But what a story!
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