On 10/29/06, Phil Sandifer <Snowspinner(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Sadly, that article isn't mentioned, making it
harder to identify
what went wrong there. But we ought take caution, once again, about
[[WP:BITE]] - the anecdote of "I corrected this information but it
got changed back to wrong" or "I contributed an article on topic X
that I'm a clear expert on but it got gutted" is getting too common.
Let's think about why this is getting more common.
1. We are getting more rigid about demanding sources/citations for new
material. This is necessary. I expect most academics who contribute,
being used to being judged by their qualifications/reputation, will
not cite and reference their work in the way Wikipedia demands.
2. We're getting more efficient at working out when these demands are
not being fulfilled. This is also necessary.
3. We're getting more prominent and more people are making such
attempts. This is a by-product of our success.
So let's not leap to damning ourselves here. I'm not saying that we
haven't got improvements to work towards (we most certainly have), but
we must not go too far the other way and pay deference towards
academics for their qualifications rather than their contributions.
--
Sam