[WikiEN-l] Clearer policy on self-written and obscure biographies

Sun Jan 4 23:25:30 UTC 2004

Fred Bauder wrote:

>An autobiography is a good primary source, but it embodies the very essence
>of point of view and must be used with that in mind, as are interviews with
>the person or with family members and friends or a diary. Most of the
>problem with the alleged autobiographies which end up listed on votes for
>deletion is that they are usually submitted by an anonymous user, contain
>only information postive about the subject, often exaggerating
>accomplishments, and a defining characteristic, cute material, like "he
>always wears a monocle over an eyepatch", (an actual example from the
>current vfd, see [[Thomas Jackson]]).
>
I'm not impressed by the person, and reading the article doesn't help. 
 When something like this has been clearly contributed under a person's 
own name, I support moving it to a user page.  Anonymous contributors 
put themselves at a disadvantage because there is no one to contact to 
ask for information.  This one sat unnoticed since January of last year! 
 When I think of Thomas Jackson the image that comes to mind is of the 
Canadian singer, actor and native activist

>When you google the name you sometimes find nothing [[Thomas Jackson]], or
>maybe a nice  personal website (but Wikipedia is not a web directory). If
>there are books published, they are self-published, with no reviews. Other
>times you find a little bit [[Joseph Buford Cox]] and [[R. Joe Brandon]],
>occasionaly a lot [[Florentin Smarandache]]. In some cases you can write a
>bit of an article or maybe a sustantial one, and perhaps save it from
>deletion as I tried with [[Joseph Buford Cox]] and [[R. Joe Brandon]]
>
I support the approach of making reasonable efforts to save these from 
deletion.  A little help from the subject helps!

>As I posted before, I believe the best policy is gently but firmly say no to
>all of them. However, in practice, I find it fun to see if I can dig up
>enough info to save them. But that will pass. But maybe someone else will
>take it up from time to time.
>
I still prefer finding some way to save them in an appropriate 
controlled context.  I've never been a fan of VfD.  That process is just 
too confrontational, and seems based on a presumption of guilt.

Ec