Usage of Wikipedia by health science and social sciences & humanities undergraduates of University of Peradeniya and South Eastern University of Sri Lanka

Abstract

The study investigated the usage of Wikipedia among undergraduate students of two public universities in Sri Lanka. While the world scenario is much focused on the usage of Wikipedia in undergraduate learning and teaching, exploration of history of the previous studies in regarding Sri Lankan context inform that there are no studies has been carried out to understand the reasons behind usage of Wikipedia among undergraduate students. Total students of two different faculties, namely, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Peradeniya and Faculty of Arts and Culture, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka is selected for the study. Survey method was used to collect the data employing questionnaires as an instrument. On the basis of the outcome yielded from the study, findings shed light on the frequency of usage, reasons behind using Wikipedia as an information source and usage of information services and technologies among undergraduates within the selected sample. A major tendency of using Wikipedia of the undergraduate students from the both selected faculties were revealed in the study. Preferences of using Wikipedia and google over library resources were indicated by the students from the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences While there is an ongoing controversy of using Wikipedia due to its credibility and accuracy, the study depicts that majority of the students use Wikipedia in their academic work. To overcome the problems involved several limitations are involved with the study, using observations and focused group studies to understand the perception of students over the theme is suggested. It would be beneficial to conduct further studies on the perceptions of Wikipedia among lecturers and librarians of universities.