[WikiEN-l] Verifiability equating to notability

[Steve Bennett]

On 02/05/06, Steve Block <steve.block at myrealbox.com> wrote:
> But what, in this instance, is original research?  Is sourcing from
> public archives original research?  Is reading a book original research?
>   Is looking at a map original research?

Original research is doing research in an "original" (or novel, or
imaginative, non-standard, creative...) way. We've discussed this
quite a lot on this list. It's generally hard to interpret a map
creatively. It's much easier to claim that a book supports your
proposition.

Basically it comes down to: your source should say exactly what you
want it to say. You shouldn't have to interpret it, read between the
lines, take context into account, bear in mind that the author was
homosexual, or that he was running for president at the time. If any
of that stuff is required, you should be using a secondary source to
perform that interpretation for you.

Steve