Axel Boldt wrote:
First, I see an encyclopedia as a compendium of all human knowledge that is interesting or useful to a significant number of people. My dream last night, and the fact that I keep my notebook in the right drawer of my desk, are both stored in my brain, so they are part of human knowledge. They are interesting/useful to me, but not to anyone else, therefore they don't belong in an encyclopedia. A biography of an unimportant person is interesting/useful to almost no one, therefore it doesn't belong either.
I am sympathetic to this idea, though not wholly convinced that it would be a good idea to try to formulate policy around it. Where do we stop, and why?
How about the mayor of New York City? Famous enough. How about the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia? Probably. Mayor of Juneau, Alaska? How about the city councilpersons?
It seems that virtually every college town (all the ones that I lived in) has _the_ local semi-professional permanent activist/student. These folks are always making the news locally. Why not an article about them?
It just seems very hard to me to be able to draw any particular line. Many professors are well-known and important _in their field_, but completely unknown otherwise. Most authors are unknowns, but some are not.
Second, facts about unimportant people are not checkable. I could write that my father once fell from a horse, and no one could ever disprove this false claim. If an important person falls from a horse, it leaves a trail.
Third, and related, it is impossible to write a biography of an unimportant person from a NPOV, since essentially only the very partial point of view of the immediate family and friends exists.
That's probably mostly true, but then again, if an article just sticks to the basic facts, it should be fine.
My grandmother is not a famous person. Yet, she founded a private school that existed for many years and had a great impact on many people in her community. If you were writing a history of that community, then if it was sufficiently detailed enough, you'd want to include her story.
--Jimbo