Wikipedia

More often than not in a paper, I use Wikipedia to gain a quick, broad, and general understanding of the topic before I go off and actually research it. As far as citing something in a paper, normally what I do when there's a fact that I feel I need to reference, I'll find out where the author of the Wiki got their information, and cite that source, rather than the Wiki itself. I have little doubt there's a bias by most professors about the credibility of a Wikipedia entry, and I feel that most professors view it as a lazy research tool and a cop-out from finding a real source.

As far as the credibility of Wikipedia, I think the Web site is pretty straightforward, and most users can get a good sense of what's reliable and what's not. Most of the noteworthy articles on Wikipedia have detailed outlines and notations, and the site's administrator's will flag or remove most articles that have not passed their screening process. Much like with the Gatekeeper presentation, it really is up to the consumer or user to decide what he or she deems credible.