I believe that both the wiki and the encyclopedia have their place and neither will take over the other. I use wikipedia on a regular basis to get my information and find it particularly useful for more current events. Knowing that the information is up-dateable by users makes me feel like the topic will never be outdated. Wikipedia's site is monitored so I don't think too many faulty facts have much of a shelf life. As the user, I'm aware that the site is run by users so I take the information with a grain of salt. For some serious research it's probably not the most reliable but it can't hurt to gain a little personal knowledge from the site.
I rely on an encyclopedia for historic events because those are not changing in the least bit. The outcome of the Civil War will never change so why would the entry need to be updated? The events have happened and no one needs to edit or update the details. You can probably find the same information on Wikipedia but the encyclopedia is a more legitimate source. Wikipedia is gaining credibility but I don't think it will every be as widely credited as the encyclopedia.
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