Wikipedia:FAQ/Readers

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This FAQ page addresses some concerns and questions readers may have about Wikipedia.

See also: Reader's guide to Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia which is free to use and edit. It is available in many different languages and on many devices. The content of Wikipedia is free to reproduce under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 Unported License (CC BY-SA) and the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), except for some images.

Wikipedia is written and edited by volunteers from around the world. If you wish to help, you can start by visiting our introduction for contributors.

It is possible to access Wikipedia with several different methods, including options for older devices and modern apps for various platforms.

Wikipedia is not censored. The community of Wikipedia editors determine what text and images are displayed, so there may be material that offends some people. There may be those who are offended, shocked or disgusted by medical images, nudity, religious imagery and controversial images.

There is a search box in the upper-right corner of the screen, with the word "Search" in it. Just type what you are looking for into the search box and press ↵ Enter.

See Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia.

Wikipedia articles are all

Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA) and in most cases the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). See Wikipedia:Copyrights

.

Yes, you may mirror or quote the text as much as you wish, as long as you fulfill the requirements of the CC-BY-SA or GNU Free Documentation License. See Wikipedia:Copyrights.

No. Linking is not an act regulated by copyright.

What if I use a small quote (three or four sentences)?

This may be covered by the fair use doctrine, but use caution.

What if I quote entire articles?

Check with your lawyer, or just put the site under the CC-BY-SA or GNU FDL. However, Wikipedians try to assume good faith, so minor copyright violations are unlikely to result in a lawsuit.

The entire text of the English Wikipedia (as of January 2012) can be downloaded in the OpenZIM format, which can be read using Kiwix.

The

Wikipedia CD Selection for schools, which may be viewed at schools-wikipedia.org, and is available for free download via the charity's website

.

Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information in this encyclopedia. Caution is advised when using Wikipedia as a source. In most academic institutions, references to Wikipedia, along with most encyclopedias, are unacceptable for research papers.

Cite it as you would any other web page. Citing the individual authors is not necessary, but you should at least include the date on which you retrieved the article (and ideally the full timestamp from the history).

Wikipedia has a tool to generate citations for particular articles. For the cite tool, see Special:Cite, or follow the "Cite this page" link on the left of the page in the article you wish to cite.

You should correct it. Wikipedia is written by volunteers who believe knowledge should be free for everyone, and the community is always ready to welcome new volunteers.

Because Wikipedia is an all-volunteer project that anyone can edit, errors or omissions can and do creep in. This should be kept in mind when reading; the very nature of Wikipedia means it should not be trusted completely. Articles frequently contain citations of authoritative works where a reader can verify the information found.

If you see that something can't be right but are not sure what the correct information is, you can signal the problem on the article's

talk page

: click the tab labeled "talk" on the top of the page, and next click the tab "new section".

Wikipedia is

policies and guidelines

and should be removed upon discovery.

See Reader's guide to Wikipedia.

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