On 0, David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> scribbled:
On 03/07/07, Gwern Branwen <gwern0(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
That is precisely the issue with [[Essjay
controversy]]: WR may not be a RS about anything else in the world - but is it a reliable
source about what happens on WR? More generally, is any site with user-generated content a
RS about what happens on that selfsame site? Obviously some people don't think the
answer is yes.
Well, not really. It was edited greatly after the attempt to get Phil
Sandifer in trouble with the police so as to cover their trail.
- d.
Fortunately, I foresaw exactly this objection and in my original edits provided links to
the [[WebCite]] archive of the relevant page at the date I was citing it; unless you want
to suggest their archival service is not reliable?
Also note that not long ago we were discussing on this very list how newspapers quietly
modified their articles, which would seem to be analogous.
--
gwern
Crust e95 DDR&E 3M KEDO iButton R1 erco Toffler FAS RHL K3 Visa/BCC SNT Ceridian