[WikiEN-l] Proposal: Article Improvement Weeks! (was Turn off article creation AND deletion.)

Mon Dec 12 19:48:06 UTC 2005

Delirium wrote:

> Anthony DiPierro wrote:
>
>> Well, I think I've made it abundantly clear I disagree.  Those
>> mathematical articles should all be referenced.  The person who is in
>> the best position to do that is the original author.
>>
> For most of them, the original author is no better placed to reference 
> them than anyone else, because they're results that appear in standard 
> textbooks.  I could singlehandedly "reference" most of the linear 
> algebra articles, for example, just by copy/pasting the reference list 
> from [[linear algebra]] to the end of every one.  But in cases where 
> something is a standard result in elementary textbooks, I don't see 
> what advantage actually listing some arbitrarily chosen textbook gives 
> the reader.

It helps a reader who comes through some path other than the main
article. What I usually do is to use the general reference and
add specific relevant page numbers. If one has multiple possible
sources, then pick just one or two that have the best individual
concept descriptions. Readers will very much appreciate getting
the direct connection, and it also helps future editors when the
general references happen to differ in their detailed treatment
of a specific concept - there have been any number of minor edit
fights that get started because different references say different
things.

I think it would be an acceptable bandaid to have a "References"
section saying "See [[linear algebra#References]]".

Stan