On 10/07/06, poore5(a)adelphia.net <poore5(a)adelphia.net> wrote:
Wikipedia has no way to verify information, seek
clarity, or simply
get a response. For this reason it is essential that we stick with
reliable third party sources and sparingly use primary sources
to fill in details for already verified incidents.
The problem is that here we have an interdiction against using a
medium for a primary source ("...as is demonstrated by the fact Smith
made a post to Usenet in June [1] stating he still held that black was
white...") which *also* prevents us using anything published through
that medium as a tertiary source ("...as has been shown by Smith's
extensive research into monography<ref>"Summary of recent work".
Smith. Post to sci.research.black-white</ref>").
This guideline is foolishly thought-out at best, and actively
problematic at worst.
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk