[WikiEN-l] And now, for something completely different

[charles matthews]

"David Gerard"  wrote

>Unfortunately, I've found that a lot of people don't get a good bio in
Wikipedia until they die and there are nicely-researched obituaries to
use as sources.

Yes, a high price to pay for getting your educational record straight.

It's not so bad though.  Many fairly stubby articles are there as 
placeholders _in case_ someone gets into the news.  We have a stub on a 
scientist, who gets a Nobel out of the blue (can be for work done 15-20 
years ago, quite easily).  People look up the article as soon as the news 
hits the wire services, and the article burgeons in real time as academics 
look in to see what's here and sort it out.  No article, they may not start 
one.  Also, say it's a Swiss researcher, and that the German-language 
article is better than the English article.  We do at least have that 
interwiki possibility, then.

So let's not forget that WP has always had the low-grade articles, has 
thrived, and there is some connection.

Charles