On 4/8/07, Fred Bauder fredbaud@waterwiki.info wrote:
From: Thomas Dalton [mailto:thomas.dalton@gmail.com] Define "Not so notable". If you can do that well, then this idea might have merit, but currently it is far too vague and will just result in arguments over notability, rather than over content.
Not so notable is the rough dividing line between public figures and those who are not. George W. Bush is a public figure as as most of those who regularly appear in the media. Those whose doings are not ordinarily covered by the media are not public figures, although something interesting may have happened to them and there has been spot coverage.
One way to determine notability sufficient to justify a Wikipedia biography is whether that person has already had a biography published by a reliable third-party source, either in a form of a newspaper article or a book. If we were to adopt a "no first biography" criterion, it would ensure not only that our subjects are truly notable, but would also help to ensure accuracy, because we'd have a published biography to base the Wikipedia article on.
Sarah