Talk:Carol M. Highsmith

Needs work

I worked a bit on it but needs more. Seems very notable, and the LOC photos might useful to upload to commons since they are copyright-free. That is why I stumbled across it. The order is a bit strange, with some info duplicated, and many irrelevant details. Also needs more sources cited, even if not on-line (e.g. "a memoir"?). W Nowicki (talk) 00:54, 3 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes, you are right. -- Hoary (talk) 08:47, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Tone

This is not encyclopedic in tone. While the subject may be a wonderful person, material that only serves to promote her is not relevant here. We should remove anything that doesn't actually inform the reader. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.144.145 (talk) 21:35, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

Yes, very true. -- Hoary (talk) 08:47, 7 April 2013 (UTC)

Commercially motivated sources

In this edit by Tedland (contributions), Fineartamerica.com is put forward as a source for the claim that "C. Ford Peatross, director of the Center for Architecture at the Library of Congress" wrote such and such in a letter to persons unspecified.

Fineartamerica.com is a retailer, selling work by Highsmith. It is not a reliable source on somebody whose work it's selling.

I pointed this out in my summary for the edit in which I replaced the reference with a "citation needed" flag; but Tedland reverted this, with no edit summary. -- Hoary (talk) 23:43, 1 May 2013 (UTC)

I understand the above criticisms, and we found another source for the Peatross quote that has nothing to do with selling Highsmith's work. Tedland — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tedland (talk • contribs) 18:19, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Admin review for COI and NPOV

Hello all, I'm a Wikipedia administrator and I found my way here as a result of a posting at the Conflict of interest noticeboard.

The history log of this article raises the possibility that at least one contributor has a potential conflict of interest. At least one other editor may be engaged in (possibly unintentional) violations of Wikipedia's neutrality policy, by appearing to slant the article in an overly positive tone.

As a general guideline, we encourage all editors to become familiar with our core policies of neutrality and verifiability.

Furthermore, no editor should ever refrain from being bold when reverting material that he/she regards as being against policy (particularly for a living person's biography). If another editor wishes to restore such disputed material, it is expected that they present an argument in its defence on the talk page.

A number of editors have expressed concerns about the neutrality of this article, and in my opinion these concerns are justified. Hence I encourage all concerned editors to proceed with rectifying the apparent neutrality problems. If disputes arise, please do not engage in revert wars, but discuss matters on the talk page (Also bear in mind that in any "revert war", the admins will tend to favour a party who has policy on their side.)

Please don't hesitate to ask if I can be of any further assistance. Manning (talk) 23:48, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Things may appear differently to you, but I am new to posting on Wikipedia and was unaware of many of its stipulations. I recognize that ignorance is no excuse, but I am endeavoring to correct any violations, including offering acceptable citations whenever they are called for. I was unaware that all edits, however minor, should be explained and will do so from now on. Again, this was, no doubt, carelessness on my part, but it was not deliberate.

There was one allegation that I, or someone, simply removed a "citation needed" flag without supplying a citation. If this happened, it was unintentional.

I will also endeavor to quiet down what editors view as overly promotional material. I would argue, however, that the statement by a top-ranking Library of Congress official that Highsmith's complete DONATION of her life's work to the nation and the world via the Library of Congress is one of the "most generous acts" in that Library's 200-some-year history is noteworthy biographical material. It helps to validate Highsmith's standing and eligibility for biographical representation on Wikipedia.

One more note: I am currently far from home on a two-month journey, and it is very difficult for me to find "quiet time" to make these needed changes. That, too, is not a full excuse or rationale, but critics should be aware that (1) I acknowledge the shortcomings of this entry and (2) I will do my best over the next couple of months to better understand Wikipedia policies and to remove or correct inappropriate material where criticisms of it are valid. Tedland. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tedland (talk • contribs) 18:33, 17 May 2013 (UTC)