[WikiEN-l] Policy Suggestions

Sat Jan 24 12:27:19 UTC 2004

At 03:16 AM 1/24/04 -0600, Ira Stoll wrote:
>That's exactly what I'm getting at. The wikipedia should be packed with 
>clickable citations.

In some cases, the useful citations aren't to online material--making them 
clickable would
entice people to, say, the chance to buy a book, rather than actually 
providing more
information.

>The reason why I've always loved encyclopedias so much is the quality of 
>the information, and the impartial manner in which it was presented. 
>Citations (particularly linkable) bring with them evidence for belief, and 
>an option for the reader to learn further, investigate for themselves (by 
>clicking on it). A basic of polite discourse (and a policy in my debate 
>club) was to accept another's argument so long as it is logical, and to 
>accept their premise so long as you could not disprove it (like thru a 
>citation). What I Don't like about the wikipedia is when the truth (or a 
>way of interpreting it) is removed from an article, regardless of the 
>quality of citation, due to overriding majority POV. My suggestions are 
>meant to address that. JackLynch

People who ignore the NPOV policy aren't going to stop because there's a 
citation.
Conversely, the presence of a citation doesn't stop a statement from 
*being* strongly
POV. 