[WikiEN-l] A plea for sanity in capitalisation from the coalface

[Daniel Mayer]

Jim wrote:
>Tannin has a lot more patience than me. I would be more 
>inclined to pack in the whole thing than argue at such length 
>over an issue where the views of the incorrect majority take 
>priority over those of the well-informed. 

Again - I mistrust smug statement like this made by specialists when they are 
writing for a general reference encyclopedia.

>....
>Tannin is right, 95% at least of the literature capitalises. 

Which literature? Not other encyclopedias, not dictionaries, not textbooks, 
not other general reference works. Well-respected style guides also prefer 
down style names in mixed environments. Wikipedia is such a mixed 
environment.

>Although nobody owns articles, I'm sure the capital-changers 
>would be annoyed if I made ill-informed changes to their pet 
>articles, assuming they write any.

Yes we do - by the scores. Before you spew out such an insulting statement 
perhaps you should visit my user page to see a partial listing. Your attitude 
here is less than helpful and smacks elitist to me. 

>I don't know why this is an issue. Capitalisation should be used 
>where it is correct, proper names and species names, and not 
>otherwise. 

Exactly my point - in most articles links to species names need to be down 
style. This is normal English grammar/capitalization. As I've said the 
national bird of the US is written as "bald eagle" NOT "Bald Eagle" whenever 
that term is being used in a non-specialist context (such as a page on the US 
park system). 

>I can't understand why people who make no contribution 
>to these articles are so determined to undermine those who do. 

Copyediting and correcting grammar/capitalization is a very important way to 
contribute. Also developing the taxobox was also a contribution I've made 
along with helping you format the bird images and correctly attribute them. 
I've already stated my compromise proposal which should make you less grumpy.

Please read it:
http://www.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2003-April/002848.html

-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)