[Wikipedia-l] Entries for deletion.... issues from the ThirdWorld

[Frederick Noronha]

Marek makes some great points. I couldn't agree with him more.

If anyone convinces Wikipedia that it needs to be "more like the real
thing" (whatever that is, including mainstream, printed encyclopedias
or Encarta), it would be a great loss for the attempt to build
alternatives. Likewise, it would be hardly helpful if anyone convinces
Wikipedia that it should focus on the "standard and quality
information" argument (whatever that is supposed to mean!) over all
other strengths of the Wikipedia experiment.

For someone like me, the strength of the Wikipedia lies mainly in the
fact that it has space also for my village of 8000 to be written about
for a global audience (in a factual manner, of course). If things that
are important to me are going to be seen as "peripheral" (just because
they lack size or not being visible enough in cyberspace), then in
what way is it different from the mainstream... that has kept me out
in the cold for so long, anyway?

Just the other day, a speaker here in Goa, India was describing
"remote" communities, and pointing out that the term is misleading in
itself. As he put it, the logic of "remoteness" is always connected to
our definition of what is the centre (of the world, of the nation
state, or whatever). "For people out there, their own location, of
course, is the centre of the world, as far as they go," he said.

Can we encourage the diversity of the planet to flower in the
Wikipedia, as it really should? --Frederick "FN" Noronha, Independent
Journalist, Goa, India.

On 10/01/07, Marek Najmajer <marqoz at wp.pl> wrote:
> I've been reading some of your meassages or votes for entry deletion, and
> I'm getting more and more sad.
>
> You are trying to have a 'clean' worthfull encyclopaedia with assurance
> there is no meaningless article in it.
> It could be understood in case of written, printed book which looks great in
> the bookshelf (I like books anyway)....
-- 
FN M: 0091 9822122436 P: +91-832-240-9490 (after 1300IST please)
http://fn.goa-india.org  http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com