For my Ales 204 lab on Wikipedia editing I chose to work on a Swan Lake Stub.
A stub is not enough information to provide encyclopedic coverage of a subject. I do not think that I would classify Wikipedia as a reliable source, or even call it an encyclopedia. Anyone can alter the information as long as they create a Wikipedia account. I think that the idea to have this site is a good one. If people actually took the time to do research on a specific topic and sited all their sources it could be a credible source of information. Since that is not the case, I like to use Wikipedia as a quick fix for information. In argumentative conversations I think that this site helps to settle disagreements. I admit that is one of the main reasons I use Wikipedia, to prove someone wrong! Although, I am not always right, but then again those who are writing articles on Wikipedia are not always correct with their thoughts too.
Another thing that I believe Wikipedia is good for in an academic sense, is to familiarize yourself with a topic before you do any extensive research. I think that getting some general knowledge from this source is good ground work before actually diving into any credible articles. It is good to start but not credible material to site on a topic.
I chose Swan Lake (Martins) as my stub to research and edit because I am a dancer. I have been dancing for 18 years, and I have a passion for it. I thought it would be interesting to find information on a performance that I have actually been a part of. The classical dance and music is amazing and I really did find it interesting completing this stub. After I was finished with researching as a homework break I went on a website called StumbleUpon and the first thing that popped up was the picture below (Kolnik, 2012), of ballet dancers in Swan Lake. I thought that it was a sign that I chose the right stub to work on! I found out about StumbleUpon from Lynda Forsyth’s blog. She is a classmate in Ales204 and when reading her blog posts made me curious and ready to log on that site!
(Photo Credits: Paul Kolnik, 2012)
kikirt 
I completely agree with you Kelsey! I too use Wikipedia as a quick information fix and a way to prove people wrong. I would never rely on Wikipedia as a place to find sound information on a topic. You can never be too sure that what you are reading on Wikipedia is accurate and true information. There are people who use their Wikipedia accounts to vandalize and present mis-information on topics. These people ruin the credibility of Wikipedia. As well, even those who are trying to provide accurate details on a subject may be using out dated or dis-credited sources, in which they may not even be aware of. Because of this Wikipedia is definitely not the place to go to find detailed and accurate information on a topic, but it is very useful to get the basic idea and groundwork on something you might have zero knowledge about.