On 5/24/05, Jimmy Wales jwales@wikia.com wrote:
We could do something similar, but also allow for the inclusion of credentials. People could *optionally* go through a process to confirm their credentials. When you do this, a small icon appears by your name in the edit history, and when you click on it, you get to a new tab of the user page, which contains a list of the confirmed credentials.
As I pretty much stated below, I think this process should include anything someone would put on a resume that can be independently verified... though with some standardization for format.
If we wish to be anti-intellectual-elite we should not avoid this process, but intentionally reduce the granularity with which we represent 'standard' degrees and such.. For example, when certifying a general degree we may choose to not mention the school, or we may decide to treat a minor the same as a major. We might choose to do this because it is apparent that someone who got a minor in something from a small nearly-unknown school but has a really passion for the subject and/or really works in that field, often knows more about the subject then someone who majored in it at a prestigious 4 year school but coasted through learning as little as possible.
We can't tell which a person is by looking at the paper, so perhaps we should treat the papers the same and let people show us who they are with other types of credential.
I also have an idea about how this can be implimented: There is a specially named subpage of the users page with this information. The users get it verified (by getting wikipedians of some sort to note the authenticity of the claim on the talk page), and once the information is sufficently authenticated, an admin will protect the page. If the user has a protected credentials page, then they get the icon. Admins will not be permitted to protect/unprotect their own.