On 1/25/07, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
He isn't trying to change the policies. WP:CITE and WP:RS are current policies - it's the people that want to relax those policies that are trying the change policies. Perhaps they should fork?
Ahem... WP:CITE and WP:RS are guidelines. But Robth puts it exactly right. There is pretty much a consensus that citations and the use of reliable sources are good things that make Wikipedia better, ceteris paribus. It's an issue of emphasis. No doubt CITE and RS, in some cases, either turn potential contributors off of Wikipedia or inspire the removal of valid information. But they also inspire the addition of sourcing (and perhaps the participation of editors who wouldn't edit in project where sources carried less weight). The goal in writing or re-writing those guidelines should be to strike the optimal balance between the positive effects and the negative effects. But both guidelines are central to the shift in Wikipedia culture over the past year or so, in which we've seen drastic sourcing improvements to the point where most editors realize that sources are expected, not just encouraged.
-ragesoss