[WikiEN-l] Wikipedia is not a dictionary (was: Re: Old Wikipedia backups discovered)

[Stephanie Daugherty]

On Tue, Dec 28, 2010 at 4:22 PM, Anthony <wikimail at inbox.org> wrote:


>
> Wait a second.  If "Wikipedia is not a dictionary" is about inclusion,
> isn't *it* that notability guideline?
>
> What is a reliable source for a word?  Do dictionaries count?  If so,
> then wouldn't pretty much all words have reliable sources on them?
>
> The various "What wikipedia is not..." standards evolved before the
notability guideline reached it's current form, so the ones dealing with
inclusion/exclusion should probably be thought of as complementary policies.
Notability is more or less a generic test. "Wikipedia is not..." standards
dealing with exclusion are a non-exhaustive list of specific cases where
something probably doesn't belong in Wikipedia regardless of it's notability
- they serve both as a shortcut around notability and an addendum to it to
cover the corner cases.

Reading it this way, and keeping in mind that our guidelines are just that,
guidelines, that means that "not a dictionary" is it's own EXCLUSION test,
aside from the INCLUSION test of notability. The same would go for any other
exclusion test. Interpreting it as a guideline rather than a hard and fast
rule, that means that "not a dictionary" stands on it's own. When it
applies, the article probably doesn't belong here regardless of it's
notability, but there may be the need to make exceptions.

There are a number of other "confusing" and misapplied parts of "What
wikipedia is not." I would say one of the most consistently misapplied ones
is to consider "Wikipedia is not censored." to be an inclusion guideline on
it's own. The intent should be clear on that one - it means that
offensiveness, obscenity, tastelessness, and any other reason to find
content objectionable are simply not considerations - if the content stands
under whatever other applicable content guidelines apply, then the content
shouldn't be removed on account of someone's objection, BUT "not censored"
isn't by itself reason to keep something - that's for other guidelines to
decide.




>
>