[WikiEN-l] Elimination of unreferenced articles drive?

[Ray Saintonge]

Todd Allen wrote:

>Ray Saintonge wrote:
>  
>
>>Matthew Brown wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>On 6/16/07, Jossi Fresco <jossifresco at mac.com> wrote:
>>>      
>>>
>>>>A Wikiproject to "eliminate unreferenced articles"?
>>>>
>>>>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Unreferenced_articles
>>>>
>>>>This seems a bit excessive.
>>>>        
>>>>
>>>Well, it depends how that elimination is being done - by adding
>>>references is quite OK, for instance.  By nominating for deletion
>>>things that no references can be found for after an exhausting search
>>>is also OK in my book.
>>>      
>>>
>>Experience shows that the "exhausting search" is not always there.  
>>Sometimes there is no search before nomination; perhaps a nomination 
>>should show evidence that some searching has happened.
>>    
>>
>Or we could go the other way, and say that an -article- should show some
>evidence that searching has happened.
>
>WP:V:
>
>"The burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material."
>
The fact that you had no option but to quote a rule gives me confidence 
about my own argument.  Unfortunately people who are too quick to use 
rules are also too quick to misuse them..  The rule makes sense when 
there are no other options.  If someone insists that the inhabitants of 
Mars are four feet tall, have green skin, and reproduce in a manner that 
resembles putting one's thumbs in a partner's ears I would be tempted to 
invoke that rule.  In many instances, however, those invoking the rule 
are just being lazy dicks.  The evidence is readily available, and far 
less time would be wasted adding it instead of hassling that editor 
about his failures.

>You write an article, it is -your job- to source it, not someone else's.
>If you're just hacking at it from memory...well what are you writing it
>for in the first place, find sources first!
>
I joined at a time when Wikipedia was a collaborative effort of all 
editors, and no one person owned any articles.  In those good old days 
someone who felt that a source was needed would help his brother editor 
by adding one.  Sometimes that brother editor might even thank him for 
doing so.

Ec