There are two questions here, and I think it's important to look at them separately: * How does systemic bias manifest in what is kept, and what is not, on Wikipedia? * What is the best way for a student to engage with Wikipedia? I'd like to address the second one, where I have more experience. It depends on what learning outcomes aiming for. If you're looking to give the student some practical experience with Wikipedia, in a general way -- which is what I've done -- I would strongly urge you to design your lessons in a way that guide students away from topics where notability is a substantial concern (grey areas) in their early edits. Put them in a context where they are more likely to have productive encounters, than difficult arguments. If you're looking to have the students engage with Wikipedia's systemic bias, I think it might be more worthwhile to have them evaluate existing deletion debates (and similar discussions) -- rather than having them contribute directly to Wikipedia. I think it would be easier for them to look at a larger number of cases, and observe without having their personal attachment to an article come into play, if they read stuff that they haven't been involved in. -Pete [[User:Peteforsyth]] On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 10:39 AM, Kathleen McCook <klmccook(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Kathleen, I suppose you are writing about this revision (or thereabouts): http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=October_(novel)&direction=nex… A notability tag is not a "Scarlet A": it is merely a sign that the notability of the topic hasn't been sufficiently asserted. The best way to avoid it? Choose multiple, clear, independent sources. Check the subject-specific notability guidelines. For books, for instance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability_(books) Given a revision with two sources, one from a little-known site called "we love this book", it's unsurprising! Remember that editors come from all backgrounds and we don't all know as much as/the same things as you! I've thought a lot about notability, as a researcher, so if you want to talk more about it, let me know! -Jodi On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 7:39 PM, Kathleen McCook <klmccook(a)gmail.com> wrote: