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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{help me}} before the question. Again, welcome! JohnCD (talk) 11:29, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Reply

Monash University Faculty of Information Technology

edit

I don't need to send you a copy of the article I deleted a year ago, because it was a straight copy of the Faculty's website at http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/about-faculty.html. There are all kinds of things wrong with that:

  • It's copyright, and Wikipedia cannot accept copyright text unless a formal release has been made by the copyright holder
  • No doubt that could be fixed, but it is far too promotional in tone: "prestigious", "outstanding", "enormous breadth and depth of teaching... " Those are puffery, "peacock terms", and that is not an encyclopedia article, it is an advertisement. Wikipedia is not for marketing/PR-speak fluff like that; one of our key policies is WP:Neutral point of view

Either of those would be enough to get it deleted at sight, but also:

With regard to notability, although a good many University department articles do creep in, it is often hard for them to establish independent notability if challenged, and the precedent established at a number of deletion discussions (see WP:OUTCOMES#Education) has been that:

Departments or degree programs within a university, college, or school are generally not considered notable unless they have made significant contributions to their field (e.g., University of Chicago Department of Economics), or produced a number of notable graduates (USC School of Cinematic Arts, Oxford PPE).

You too, if you are editing on behalf of the department, have a conflict of interest; that need not stop you, but you should be careful to declare your interest in any discussions, and to follow the guidelines in:

The links in the welcome paragraph will tell you more, particularly WP:Your first article, and these may also help (I'm sorry to give you so much to read, but it may save you time in the end):

Regards, JohnCD (talk) 11:29, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Reply

Another useful guideline I've only just found (I think your website designer should perhaps read it too): Wikipedia:Avoid academic boosterism. JohnCD (talk) 18:58, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Reply