[WikiEN-l] Getting hammered in a tv interview is not fun

[Jimmy Wales]

Bryan Derksen wrote:
> Guy Chapman aka JzG wrote:
>> On Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:36:11 -0600, Bryan Derksen
>> <bryan.derksen at shaw.ca> wrote:
>>
>>> I don't see it as a good example, myself. The edit in question was
>>> referenced with an appropriate and well-formatted external source
>> A student email directory?  In what way is that not original research?
> 
> Original research would have been if someone "pieced together" what
> university she went to through indirect clues - for example finding one
> source that says she lives in that city and another source that says
> she's a student and concluding that that she therefore goes to that
> _particular_ university.
> 
> In this case the reference is a primary source that says "these people
> go to this university." A perfectly good reference to cite when saying
> "this person goes to this university." That's hardly a creative act of
> information synthesis.

No, I don't agree... even if this is what happened, and I think this 
description is charitable in the extreme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Mugabe&diff=85665104&oldid=85227651

Cites one page, which apparently does not now and never did mention the 
name "Bona Mugabe" as if it has been changed, but suggests that behind 
the login page you could still see the name.

Additionally, the name "Bona Mugabe" is likely not unique in the world, 
so appearing in a list of students... how does that prove anything?

This is exactly why we have a strong ban on original research.

--Jimbo