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First Year Seminar Information Literacy Library Instruction: Exploring a Wikipedia article

This guide is designed to be used in FYS information literacy library instruction sessions.

Reading a Wikipedia Article

Your information literacy assignment for this class asks you to find a Wikipedia article and a scholarly article on the same or related topic. Let's get you ready to complete that assignment by critically exploring the Wikipedia article below. The objectives are for you to 1) determine how to use a Wikipedia article as a launching point for finding a scholarly source, and 2) decide whether or not a Wikipedia article is "good."

  1. First, let's look at this Wikipedia article about FOMO, or Fear of missing out. Keep this page you're reading open in another tab so you can switch back and forth between the Wikipedia page and this one.
  2. Read the first three paragraphs of this Wikipedia article that appear before the Contents box. This will give you a general overview of what this topic.
  3. Then, scroll ahead to the section titled Symptoms. With your partner or group, read this section and discuss ways how college students might experience the symptoms of FOMO.
  4. Next, look at the Social Media section of this article. Read this section, and then, with your partner or group, consider how social media use might impact the symptoms of FOMO you discussed in the previous section.
  5. Then, brainstorm some keywords and concepts that you might use to explore scholarly research articles on the topic of FOMO and college students. If you wanted to find out more information on this topic, how would you phrase your search?
  6. Finally, consider with your partner or group whether or not this is a "good" Wikipedia article. Why or why not? What characteristics or features do you look for when trying to decide whether this is a "good" article? Recall the overview of what makes a Wikipedia article "good" from the information literacy module in Canvas, also linked here. And have a look at the Five Pillars of Wikipedia and consider how this might influence your evaluation.