On 19 Jan 2007, at 09:30, Guy Chapman aka JzG wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:51:33 -0800 (PST), zero 0000 nought_0000@yahoo.com wrote:
if there has never been a reputably published biography or profile, then I don't believe we can have an article.
This would include minor actors and exclude famous scientists. Even scientists who have a large number of scientific achievements are rarely the subjects of published biographies. Being famous enough to get a mention in newspapers doesn't help either, since such articles rarely provide information like place of birth.
Many notable scientists are profiled in pop science and other journals. And a fair number of those who have not, really should not be on Wikipedia. Take Piotr Blass, for example. He re-created his article about ten times before we finally banned him.
I've had some experience of this from the other end. A lot of the content of the article about me is sourced from my father's website. When you look at the list of publications to his name you might conclude that he is a reliable source for the information he gives, more so than the official alternative, which is also available:
I have also had dozens of articles published about me in the press and on the internet, which I can locate far more easily than the average editor, particularly those that predate Google and even the Web.
I have been toying with the idea of whether to drop some hints, or to let sleeping dogs lie.