Goldburg
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Guide to referencing
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| Using references (citations) |
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I thought you might find it useful to have some information about references (refs) on wikipedia. These are important to validate your writing and inform the reader. Any editor can removed unreferenced material; and unsubstantiated articles may end up getting deleted, so when you add something to an article, it's highly advisable to also include a reference to say where it came from. Referencing may look daunting, but it's easy enough to do. Here's a guide to getting started. Good referenceseditA reference must be accurate, i.e. it must prove the statement in the text. To validate "Mike Brown climbed Everest", it's no good linking to a page about Everest, if Mike Brown isn't mentioned, nor to one on Mike Brown, if it doesn't say that he climbed Everest. You have to link to a source that proves his achievement is true. You must use Reliable sources, such as published books, mainstream press, authorised web sites, and official documents. Blogs, Myspace, Youtube, fan sites and extreme minority texts are not usually acceptable, nor is Original research, e.g. your own unpublished, or self-published, essay or research. Simple referencingeditThe first thing you have to do is to create a "Notes and references" section. This goes towards the bottom of the page, below the "See also" section and above the "External links" section. Enter this code:
The next step is to put a reference in the text. Here is the code to do that. It goes at the end of the relevant term, phrase, sentence, or paragraph to which the note refers, and after punctuation such as a full stop, without a space (to prevent separation through line wrap):
Whatever text you put in between these two tags will become visible in the "Notes and references" section as your reference. Test it outeditCopy the following text, open the edit box for this page, paste it at the bottom (inserting your own text) and save the page:
(End of text to copy and paste.) Information to includeeditYou need to include the information to enable the reader to find your source. For a book it might look like this:
An online newspaper source would be:
Note the square brackets around the URL. The format is [URL Title] with a space between the URL and the Title. If you do this the URL is hidden and the Title shows as the link. Use double apostrophes for the article title, and two single quote marks either side of the name of the paper (to generate italics). The date after The Guardian is the date of the newspaper, and the date after "Retrieved on" is the date you accessed the site – useful for searching the web archive in case the link goes dead. Wikilinks (double square brackets which create an internal link to a wikipedia article) function inside the ref tags. Dates are wikilinked so that they work with user preference settings. Citation templateseditYou may prefer to use a citation template to compile details of the source. The template goes between the ref tags and you fill out the fields you wish to. Basic templates can be found here: Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles/Citation quick reference Same ref used twice or moreeditThe first time a reference appears in the article, you can give it a simple name in the <ref> code:
The second time you use the same reference in the article, you need only to create a short cut instead of typing it all out again:
You can then use the short cut as many times as you want. Don't forget the /, or it will blank the rest of the article! A short cut will only pick up from higher up the page, so make sure the first ref is the full one. Some symbols don't work in the ref name, but you'll find out if you use them. ExampleeditYou can see refs in action in the article William Bowyer (artist). There are 3 sources and they are each referenced 3 times. Each statement in the article has a footnote to show what its source is. Next stepeditWhen you become familiar with the process, the next step is to have one section, "Footnotes", with links embedded in the text, and another, "References", which lists all of your references alphabetically with full details, e.g. for a book:
If you're ready to go into it further, these pages have detailed information:
I hope this helps. If you need any assistance, let me know. |
Shaftism
editThe article Shaftism has been speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under the criteria for speedy deletion, because the article seems to be blatant advertising which only promotes a company, product, group or service and which would need to be fundamentally rewritten in order to become an encyclopedia article. Please read the general criteria for speedy deletion, particularly item 11, as well as the guidelines on spam. Feel free to leave a note on my talk page if you have any questions about this. NawlinWiki 16:52, 23 February 2007 (UTC)
Re Baron Barrymore Halpenny -- it's not really up to me any more. There will be a consensus decision on the pending AFD. Right now, it looks like that decision will be to delete the article. The wishes of the subject of an article are usually not controlling, though. NawlinWiki 13:41, 13 March 2007 (UTC)
Nice job on rewriting Baron Barrymore Halpenny. I consider the new article to be significantly improved from the previous one, and it cites at least one independent source, so I will not be relisting it for deletion. (I can't guarantee that someone else won't.). I have edited the article to remove the expressions of personal opinion (like the line about his "visually stunning and impressive" artwork).
I've looked at Alice Anderson and similarly edited out the editorial commentary. She appears notable because of her shows at well-known museums. Thanks, NawlinWiki 13:50, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
Baron Barrymore Halpenny
editHi, and thanks for the note. I'm supposed to be on a wikibreak, so I'm a bit in low gear right now, but wanted to reply. I'll look into those articles you mentioned when I get the chance.
I did notice that you recreated the Baron Barrymore Halpenny page. Technically you can't do that once an AfD decision has been made. There is a review process if you feel the article should be recreated. Most likely an administrator will come along and speedy delete the article you posted.
I'm pretty new at this myself, so I'm just learning the sometimes serpentine procedures. It's often a good idea to cut your teeth on editing existing articles before creating new ones. You can also give an article deletion a try (not that it's supposed to be fun!), if you find one that seems self-promotional or non-notable (just avoid the words "vanity" as this isn't a criteria for deletion--been told that a few times myself). Setting up the AfD is complicated, but it's actually a good way to learn the ins and outs of wikipedia. Otherwise, stick to a topic you know and edit, add sources, copy edit (which is crucial and often not done well) and, come up for air occasionally. Otherwise have fun. Freshacconci 17:19, 14 March 2007 (UTC)
- This is very good advice. When you are more experienced in working on wiki, you will see why people ask for articles to be deleted. They must be strongly referenced with good sources to support notable facts. Tyrenius 11:47, 19 March 2007 (UTC)