On 5/24/05, Jimmy Wales <jwales(a)wikia.com> wrote:
We could do something similar, but also allow for the
inclusion of
credentials. People could *optionally* go through a process to confirm
their credentials. When you do this, a small icon appears by your name
in the edit history, and when you click on it, you get to a new tab of
the user page, which contains a list of the confirmed credentials.
As I pretty much stated below, I think this process should include
anything someone would put on a resume that can be independently
verified... though with some standardization for format.
If we wish to be anti-intellectual-elite we should not avoid this
process, but intentionally reduce the granularity with which we
represent 'standard' degrees and such.. For example, when certifying a
general degree we may choose to not mention the school, or we may
decide to treat a minor the same as a major. We might choose to do
this because it is apparent that someone who got a minor in something
from a small nearly-unknown school but has a really passion for the
subject and/or really works in that field, often knows more about the
subject then someone who majored in it at a prestigious 4 year school
but coasted through learning as little as possible.
We can't tell which a person is by looking at the paper, so perhaps we
should treat the papers the same and let people show us who they are
with other types of credential.
I also have an idea about how this can be implimented: There is a
specially named subpage of the users page with this information. The
users get it verified (by getting wikipedians of some sort to note the
authenticity of the claim on the talk page), and once the information
is sufficently authenticated, an admin will protect the page. If the
user has a protected credentials page, then they get the icon. Admins
will not be permitted to protect/unprotect their own.