"Peter Jacobi" <peter_jacobi(a)gmx.net>
In the unlikely case anyone interested has missed it:
There
are some troubles re mandatory in-line citing and science
articles.
It all started with a warning put at large number of "good
articles" that they will be delisted soon for lack of
in-line cites. This immediately got the response, that standard
textbooks facts are not and should not be in-line cited, the
references section will name selected textbooks and one cannot
judge the correctness without having some context anyway.
It is certainly foolish in many cases, and make-work, to reference specific and
uncontroversial well-known facts. What is more it will tend to make articles unreadable,
and effectively unwriteable also. This style is essentially only fit for very careful
writing in doctoral dissertations with particularly terrifying examiners in mind.
It seems clear that enWP could get overrun by nutty lawyering types, if a firm line is not
taken. Is there not a 'statute of limitations' of sorts appropriate? When a piece
of science is over 50 years old, one expects to read about the details of the original
papers in a historical article. And the chances are that there are so many textbook
citations that picking just one isn't a great help to students.
Charles
-----------------------------------------
Email sent from
www.ntlworld.com
Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software
Visit
www.ntlworld.com/security for more information