Jmanster9
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Hello, Jmanster9, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
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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)
Monash University Faculty of Information Technology
editI 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:
- It doesn't give any independent references to establish notability, a requirement to have a Wikipedia article, which is not a matter of opinion but has to be demonstrated by showing "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject."
- It was input by user Monashstaff (talk), who clearly had a WP:Conflict of interest.
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)
- 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)