The perils of relying on online encyclopedia Wikipedia were again brought home this week in the wake of the death of Sir Norman Wisdom.

A number of papers, including the Guardian and the Mirror were caught out after a 'wikivandal' changed the entry shortly after his death was revealed.

Journalists should be aware that the popular resource, while useful, is purely put together through the contributions of members, and also policed by those using the site.

This gives rise to large amounts of inaccurate changes, usually for mischievous or amusing reasons.

In this case it operated as a good test for whether journalists were checking their facts, or just copying and pasting off wikipedia and rushing to publication.

...so when the site was changed to tell us Sir Norman had composed Vera Lynn's White Cliffs of Dover classic this piece of information was contained within the obituary reports.

There have of course been a host of other instances of Wikipedia bogus changes causing consternation - fake deaths including US senators Robert Byrd and Ted Kennedy (before he actually did die), Lindsay Lohan and Apple boss Steve Jobs.

So by all means use Wikipedia - but make sure you check the facts chaps!

Below: Lindsay Lohan: Not Dead.