[WikiEN-l] Fwd: Opt Out for Not So Notable Biographies

[Fred Bauder]

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Oldak Quill [mailto:oldakquill at gmail.com]
>Sent: Monday, April 9, 2007 09:22 AM
>To: 'English Wikipedia'
>Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Fwd: Opt Out for Not So Notable Biographies
>
>On 09/04/07, MacGyverMagic/Mgm <macgyvermagic at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 4/9/07, Oldak Quill <oldakquill at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > On 09/04/07, Fred Bauder <fredbaud at waterwiki.info> wrote:
>> > > You are describing original research. Putting together information you
>> > have gathered from various sources and creating a sort of biography. But it
>> > is a pseudobiography, without substantial reference to the person described,
>> > except as they have received incidental media coverage. A golem you yourself
>> > have breathed life into.
>> >
>> > Compiling an article from multiple sources is not original research.
>>
>>
>> I don't see why compiling an article from multiple sources would be original
>> research. It's actually good to do it. It means you've verified your info
>> from more than one source. Original research is when you interpret
>> information and draw conclusion from it, which I didn't do.
>
>Yes, compiling an article from multiple sources is fundamental to
>article writing. Compiling from a single source tends to be
>plagiarism.
>
>If we were to adopt Fred's definition of "original research", we'd
>have to delete every article on Wikipedia that isn't plagiarised or
>made up.
>
>-- 
>Oldak Quill (oldakquill at gmail.com)

My definition of original research was adopted some time ago.

Plagiarism is not using information from a source, but using it and not crediting it. We do have a great deal of plagiarism due to sources not being adequately credited. Copying another work without permission is violation of copyright. Copying without crediting amounts to both violation of copyright and plagiarism. Using the facts in a published biography is acceptable so long as the source is credited, provided significant parts of the original work are not copied.

Fred