[WikiEN-l] deleting unsourced articles ..... gradually

MacGyverMagic/Mgm macgyvermagic at gmail.com
Sat Mar 31 14:33:47 UTC 2007


On 3/31/07, doc <doc.wikipedia at ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>
> We either do that by
>
> 1) drastically lifting notability thresholds to reduce the number of
> biographies to a level we can manage to maintain and monitor.
>
> OR
>
> 2) introducing a strong quality threshold, where we don't include, or
> swiftly delete, articles that aren't currently up to it. Yes, in theory
> they can be fixed, and if someone is actually willing to do it, then
> fine; but most wont be fixed and should not hang around 'because in an
> ideal wiki we'd fix them'


Both options rely on removing content. Option 1 would lead to deletion of
perfectly sourced content that needs little maintainance just to make things
manageable which would greatly affect our coverage and not neccesarily get
rid of problem material.

Option 2 focuses on removing material instead of fixing it. We shouldn't let
stuff lie around for years waiting for fixes, but a certain amount of
eventualism is certainly desireable.

There's plenty of less drastic solutions that will move towards the goal at
a slower pace without disrupting the current encyclopedia. If quality
control isn't scaling, quality control in a short time period isn't going to
work any better. I believe the solution to be improving quality control in
Wikipedia through targetted WikiProjects, bots and anti-vandalism type
programs like VandalProof aimed at fixing new articles as they come in.

I offer you:
Option 3) Stem the tide of new unsourced material by monitoring new articles
and organizing a long term effort to cite all existing articles.

And I also offer a question. How much time would it take to give all
currently tagged articles sources? Long articles require more research and
more time and articles about old subjects may require hard to get sources
and library trips to dusty archived books. I don't think it's realistic to
expect all this to get cleaned up in anything less than a year unless every
active Wikipedian pitches in. We need to answer this question before we can
build any kind of realistic time plan.

Mgm


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