Wikipedia has become one of the most consulted works of reference available in the English language. Compiled not by academics, but by the average Joe and Joanne on the street, Wikipedia is the world’s first collaborative encyclopaedia, where amateur, expert and enthusiast alike are free to create or contribute to entries on topics and people that interest them.

Critics say the information on the site is rarely verified, while fans say the critics are simply missing the point of this online research tool. Join us for a walk on the Wiki side.

‘Wiki’ comes from the Hawaiian phrase wiki wiki, meaning quick, and is also an acronym of ‘what I know is’. The word is synonymous with websites based on open-source software that can be edited quickly and easily by anyone with an interest in a topic. It’s this ability to change articles, in particular, that has attracted the ire of academics.

Certain entries give those with strong opinions the opportunity to score a cheap point. For example, the entry on US President George Bush has been amended with negative, satirical, offensive or plain inaccurate material so many times that new and recently registered users are barred from editing it without permission.

Creating false entries or adding inaccurate information to an existing one is called vandalism in the wiki community, and the site’s founders (the not-for-profit Wikimedia Foundation) encourages all users to report those who vandalise, and to correct entries if they feel qualified to do so.

One of the most notorious examples of this involved a man called Brian Chase, who thought it would be funny to post a hoax biographical entry on John Seigenthaler, a respected journalist and former editor of The Tennessean in the US.

Among other untruths, Mr Chase claimed Mr Seigenthaler was linked to the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy. The libellous content went unnoticed for 132 days before it was removed. Mr Chase was tracked down using his IP address, and was forced to resign from his job and make a personal apology.