On 9/9/07, K P kpbotany@gmail.com wrote:
Yes, saying quickly why the person is notable is important. Also David's right about giving the birth date right off, and death for those who have passed. It instantly puts a person and the possible information you can gain about them in a well defined category.
My biggest problem with adding birthdates in the beginning of an article is that they're so hard to verify. Thus I feel they should normally be cited *and attributed* if included. And putting an attribution in the very beginning of an article is clumsy.
And, yes, I look people up because I don't know about them, not because I do.
But, c'mon, you at least know why they're an interesting enough person for you to look up, which in my mind means they're notable.