A reminder to everyone about speedy deletions... It has come to my attention lately that the speedy deletion criteria are being applied rather loosely in some cases. Especially unfortunate are articles that are nominated for being "non-notable"; there is no such speedy criterion, there is only the criterion that articles about people/groups may be deleted if they have "no assertion of notability" whatsoever. This is not just process wonkery--it is fundamendal to WP:CSD that the reason for deletion be totally uncontroversial, as the process is almost entirely without review. I have encountered many speedy-tagged articles that, upon a careful look, were either good articles or worthy of further consideration (e.g. through PROD). It is incumbent on administrators who do speedy deletions to take such careful looks at every article; there are enough of us to take the time to do it right. It would also be helpful if those tagging pages would take some care in what they tag, although I do understand that new pages patrol (for example) is a thankless and rushed job which is very important. In cases I've seen where I think mistakes were made, I have tried to start discussions with the individual editors involved. My intention in sending this email is not to single them out, but just to bring this issue to everyone's attention. In many cases where an article is clearly unsuitable, but doesn't clearly fit the speedy criteria, using the WP:PROD process is a good substitute for speedy deletion, and I urge everyone to use it more often. Thanks, SCZenz