Using Wikipedia properly

In short: Wikipedia is a good starting point for a topic but not a final source. Anyone can edit articles; quality and currency vary.

In more detail: Articles are written by volunteers and checked by each other. References at the end of the article are the most important guide.

In detail

• Starting point: Overview, terms, further links.
• Check references: Follow the footnotes and literature references.
• Talk page: Shows points of dispute and quality problems.
• Revision history: Shows changes and possible vandalism edits.
• Language versions: Different languages can be of different depth.
• Citing: For papers use original sources and specialist literature and Wikipedia only for orientation (quellen-richtig-angeben-zitieren-und-plagiate-vermeiden).
• Contributing: Correct mistakes and support well with references.
• Checking: Compare with further sources (medienkompetenz-und-fake-news-quellen-prüfen).