At 12:16 10/01/2007, you wrote:
I agree that notability should be judged by those familiar with the field.
The only problem here, is that fields have sub-fields, and sub-fields have specialists.
I think an article subject is notable if someone has noted it in a reliable source(s).
There is a danger of peers in a field assessing a controversial subject as non-notable for the wrong reasons, ie. confusing notability with importances.
We have articles on obscure chemical compounds, obscure villages in obscure countries, and obscure ideas in obscure publications.
Thank goodness that www.google.com doesn't have a "notability" criteria, or most of its pages would disappear.
Regards,
Ian Tresman