Yeap *nods!*
The argument for Wikipedia is still out, but general consensus is no, its best to think of Wikipedia as a starting guide rather than a definitive source. It usually explains concepts in easier language so its good for that.
Additionally, I don't see what is too hard with finding books or information from journals and the library. I went last night at around 8pm did a search. There are still over 20+ books in reserve for my subject despite the fact all the 'primary' books (those containing the terms fourth estate or mass media) all out. But doing a quick search on other terms and going to the section these were contained, I was able to find 7+ books detailing specifically the very questions I needed answered.
I think its purely a lack of research skills which has most people using online sources. The library is open till quite late, and it is very easy to pull books from reserve. Especially with humanities subjects like Sociology, you will need quite a significant amount of theoretical backing, and the best places to find these are through either online or hard copy journals at uni or on the library homepage or through the various books scattered through Linguistics, Sociology, Culture and Media. There are guides on the web page to help you narrow these further, depending on your subject choice.
http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/researchguides/
Hope that helps
