# Have you ever used wikipedia and the info was wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837 "2016-11-06T16:45:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/21 "2016-11-07T17:43:57Z")
I’ve been an administrator at Wikipedia for almost a decade so I’m more than passingly familiar with the culture and policies there. Here’s the thing about Wikipedia… Each article is intended to be an aggregate of information drawn from reliable sources. By policy, nothing on Wikipedia is based from original research. You need to cite something that represents a legitimate analysis of facts. A good source would be a reputable newspaper, a peer-reviewed study, a book or article written by a respected expert in that field, etc. A bad source would be a random blog, or maybe a public figure making a self-serving statement about themselves. But bottom line, a GOOD Wikipedia article is a well-sourced and unbiased article with relevant information for the topic. And a good article serves two useful functions; it acts as a helpful summary of the topic without going into too much depth, and it guides you toward the really reliable sources you should use for your own research and that you can read to get more detail on the subject. That all describes a good article. A bad article may use misleading or poor sources (or none at all), or may misrepresent what is in a good source, or may present information in a biased manner, or may contain outdated and no longer accurate information. It may contain speculation, opinion, or even hoax material. The project has plenty of people checking the articles (most of them knowledgeable editors, administrators like me mostly try to enforce policies and keep disputes from escalating) but there are many articles and not nearly enough volunteers and things get missed. So don’t take what you read on Wikipedia at face value, follow the sources and use those if you can. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/22 "2016-11-08T07:08:53Z")
Years ago, I noticed Wikipedia had listed Rangsit as one of the 50 districts of Bangkok. While it is considered to be part of Greater Bangkok, it is not within the city limits but rather is a city in Pathum Thani province. I wouldn’t know how to go about changing that, but someone I knew changed it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/23 "2016-11-08T19:22:26Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > The secret to using Wikipedia effectively is to check the sources of the information you are researching. I use it all the time to obtain quick answers, but when I need to verify that the information is correct, I always look at the footnotes and go to the original sources. It also helps to have half an idea about what you’re reading, or to have access to multiple languages. Often, the entries in multiple languages fall into two different categories: either they’re a direct translation by google translate, or they have completely different information. A few months back I was researching the exact degree of family relationship between Martín Azpilcueta and Francisco Jaso Azpilcueta (aka St Francis Xavier) (both names given under what would be the modern forms). Spanish wikipedia said the saint was _señor de Xavier_, Lord of Xavier: 1. There was never such a title as “lord of Xavier”, as Xavier happened to be a royal fortress. And it wasn’t a fortress built by someone else which the king had acquired: it had been built by royal order, to protect a stretch of the border with Aragon; it was never part of a _señorío_. 2. Francisco’s father was the steward for that castle. Its lord would in any case have been the King(s). 3. And Francisco was not his father’s heir, so even if the elder Jaso had been lord of the castle, the title would not have gone to that particular son. In fact, Francisco had the choice of becoming a soldier or a priest precisely because he wasn’t his father’s heir. Why would someone think that being the Nth son of the steward of a royal castle was somehow “in need of fixing” is beyond me, but apparently someone did. Or maybe they didn’t know the difference between a castle and a turnip: I’m reasonably sure castles aren’t supposed to be edible, whereas turnips I merely dislike eating. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/24 "2016-11-08T19:25:36Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Why would someone think that being the Nth son of the steward of a royal castle was somehow “in need of fixing” is beyond me, but apparently someone did. You should have told them to … Xavier breath! Ha! ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/25 "2016-11-09T14:58:30Z")
I have gotten some surprisingly esoteric mathematical facts from Wiki. But they are always associated with references that allow me to track down the sources and refer to them when I use them. And no, I have never found an error. Amazing resource. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/26 "2016-11-09T16:58:52Z")
Six weeks ago I was looking for information about the North American _Regional_ Broadcasting Agreement, when I noticed that the person who started the Wikipedia entry about the treaty 11 years ago had incorrectly named the page “North American _Radio_ Broadcasting Agreement”. By now approximately 100 Wikipedia entries were using this wrong name, which I fixed – not too hard to do, but tedious. But there are now numerous web pages, and even a few of books, which have the wrong name–I assume they did a search for “NARBA”, as it is commonly known, and came across the incorrectly named Wikipedia page. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/27 "2016-11-10T01:10:15Z")
I thought I had found a really big blunder once… A map of the Roman Empire showed “Iberia” in the region of modern Serbia. Dummy on me: there was a region there called Iberia, having nothing to do with Spain at all! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/28 "2016-11-10T01:39:23Z")
I am currently trying to get an article removed that is totally fabricated. [This island in Panama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_Falta_Calzado#cite_note-5) doesn’t exist, and all the information written about it is complete nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/29 "2016-11-10T05:24:05Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > There can be an issue with circular references on Wikipedia. Wiki will state a fact, incorrectly and with no cite, an external writer will pick up the erroneous fact and publish it in an article, Wikipedia will then cite the article for its original fact. It is not common, but it has happened, and it can be very difficult to fix. I believe [XKCD](http://xkcd.com/978/) has a cartoon about that cycle. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/30 "2016-11-10T12:31:04Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I thought I had found a really big blunder once… A map of the Roman Empire showed “Iberia” in the region of modern Serbia. Dummy on me: there was a region there called Iberia, having nothing to do with Spain at all! Nope, the other, ancient [Iberia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Iberia) is further east, in the Caucasus. How could someone not know this vital fact? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/31 "2016-11-12T01:54:35Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Nope, the other, ancient [Iberia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Iberia) is further east, in the Caucasus. How could someone not know this vital fact? 🙂 Then WP was wrong after all? The map I saw put it right on the coast, sort of in Bosnia. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/32 "2016-11-12T02:50:29Z")
Sure you’re not thinking of ancient Ilyria? That’s in the Bosnian area. > **[Illyria](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyria)** > > In classical antiquity, Illyria (/ɪˈlɪəriə/; Ancient Greek: Ἰλλυρία, Illyría or Ἰλλυρίς, Illyrís; Latin: Illyria, Illyricum) was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyrians. Illyrians spoke the Illyrian language, an Indo-European language, which in ancient times perhaps also had speakers in some parts of Southern Italy. > The geographical term Illyris (distinct from Illyria) was sometimes used to define approximate... ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837/33 "2016-11-13T02:28:14Z")
Nope; I’m good on Illyria. (One ‘l’ or two?) It was certainly Iberia…and it knocked me for a loop, 'cause I only knew of Spain. I kept wondering how Wikipedia could have made such a gross and primitive blunder…then I learned I was the one who was wrong! Oopsie! (And…maybe I’m still wrong! Maybe the map was pointing to modern Georgia, not modern Bosnia. I looked and couldn’t find what I had seen, so… Well, gawrsh!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-used-wikipedia-and-the-info-was-wrong/770837.md?page=1)