Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 August 2

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August 2

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Article "San Francisco Choral Society"

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The article "San Francisco Choral Society" isn't showing up, though I posted it and found it initially. Where is it or what happened to it?

my hp printer

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my hp printer was not compatible with mozilla firefox I constiatly had to uninstall and then reinstall the printer program so i went back to explorer i dont like explorer what should i do I have windows vista and my printer is hp all-in-one C7280 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.56.181.228 (talk) 02:20, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  Have you tried the Computing section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:23, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Does the site "Dear God please help me" on freewebs contain some kind of virus?

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as above — Preceding unsigned comment added by 175.38.224.172 (talk) 02:28, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Please note that you are in the Help Desk of the English Wikipedia, where we answer questions about editing Wikipedia. We are not affiliated with the website you mentioned. But you can try asking in the Computing section of the Reference Desk.-- Obsidin Soul 02:42, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]


I started a new article on Dlasta

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I started a new temporary article on Dlasta: User_talk:Neptunekh2/Dlasta/Temp. I didn't copyright this time and the article is stub. Could someone expand it please? Neptunekh2 (talk) 02:50, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Your original article, while it could use some work, is not a copyright violation, for the reason I listed on the talk page. Any admin should be able to see that and remove the notice, which should then allow you to continue your work. Avicennasis @ 03:31, 2 Av 5771 / 2 August 2011 (UTC)
That's a good catch, but you do realize that it's plagiarism, right?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:25, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, indeed, which is why it needs work - I merely stated it was not a copyvio. Avicennasis @ 06:49, 2 Av 5771 / 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Remove my article please

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Could an admin please remove the notice from original article article? User_talk:Avicennasis says not a violation. I would like to work on the article. Thank you! Neptunekh2 (talk) 03:44, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I reverted my tagging of the article; I believe I am allowed to do that. Thanks to Avicennasis for noting that it is PD. —teb728 t c 08:22, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia article rule...?

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I have been told by an admin (see my talk page) that I should edit a actual article on wikipedia eventually, lest I risk being blocked. Is this an actual rule? Because if it is, it doesn't seem to make much sense to me. LikeLakers2 (talk) 03:32, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. If you read the page they linked to, you'll see our policy on treating Wikipedia like a social site. While they might have been able to phrase it better, those users who seem to be using Wikipedia as "the new facebook" are likely to get blocked. Avicennasis @ 03:40, 2 Av 5771 / 2 August 2011 (UTC)

Acceptable username?

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Is the username "copyright violation", "copyright infringement" or something similar acceptable? 183.81.68.94 (talk) 03:34, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Not if you want to contribute to Wikipedia in a positive way. Looking for names that are potentially misleading, but might not explicitly be disallowed (if the ones you suggest aren't) doesn't suggest this intent. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:51, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
User:Copyright violation was blocked due to the username one minute after the account was created and before it had made any edit. See Wikipedia:Username policy#Confusing usernames. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:56, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]


Wrong URL leads to Wrong Article

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reading up on Emilio Estevez, and the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Estevez takes me to an article about American Dad's Stan Smith Character. I tried looking up articles and forums to tell you guys, if this isn't the correct place to place this don't care. I just thought you should know that the link to Emilio Estevez leads to a different article. I don't want to edit the article, I was just trying to let you guys know if you wanted to fix it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.199.163.206 (talk) 04:25, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for letting us know. It was a spate of vandalism there that was already fixed by the time you reported it. DMacks (talk) 07:15, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

WHY can I not figure out how to request an article!!!?

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I am on your site every single day and I CANNOT understand why it is so IMPOSSIBLE to figure out how to request an article. I've just spent ten minutes getting redirected all over your site and NOWHERE on any single page is there a place to input a simple question, on top of which none of the caregories make any sense. I simply want to request an article on Lenell Geter, who was very famously convicted of a crime he didn't commit and NOWHERE is there an intelligent place for this to be done -- your Biography page asks for nationality and doesn't have American, which is carrying multiculturalism just a bit too far -- this is an American website, right?

Lenell Geter is famous and would you please create an article on him? I simply came eto try to find out if the man is still alive and it has been a very frustrating now fifteen - twenty minutes of wasted effort. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.160.169.188 (talk) 05:13, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Requested articles, The sina qua non of this website is people creating articles themselves, not requesting creation. Because everyone is a volunteer, and writes about what interests them, requesting articles doesn't really work very well.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 05:40, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Also "this is an American website, right?" No, wrong. The Wikipedia servers are based in Florida, and a large number of contributors come from the U.S., but it is an international project. Have you tried using Google to find the information you require? AndyTheGrump (talk) 05:47, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
In short: you'll probably get nowhere if you expect to demand things and get it. Everyone here is a volunteer. This is "our" site, in the sense that anyone, including you, can contribute. And as Andy pointed out, no, this is an international English-language Wikipedia, it's not American.
If you want an article on him, writing it yourself is the fastest way to do it. I highly recommend you see the Article Wizard instead.-- Obsidin Soul 07:37, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
In reply to what you were originally looking for, Lenell Geter still is alive and is a motivational speaker with Lenell Geter Enterprises. I wouldn’t be good at writing, but if anyone is interested, there is a Dallas Observer News article on how he was cleared here. —teb728 t c 07:54, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Editing Janet Ross - Adding Sections

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I have been expanding the stub on Janet Ross. I now want to divide the article into sections. I successfully created the first section "Early Days"; however, my edits to create subsequent sections entitled "Expatriate Life In Italy," and "Books," have failed to take." Henry Heater — Preceding unsigned comment added by Henryheater (talkcontribs) 05:32, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Janet Ross (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
The "== Heading ==" marker only takes effect if it is at the start of a line. I have edited the article and your headings are now showing. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:49, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict)
It was already fixed by John of Reading. Subsection markup (==TITLE==, etc.) need to be placed in a new line for them to work. I have also arbitrarily divided your text into paragraphs and added an infobox (fill it up with what you can). See changes here. Its far more readable if you do so. Please rearrange as you see fit and rematch to their correct citations if necessary. Thanks. Interesting article, by the way. :) -- Obsidin Soul 08:09, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Cannot create "Copal Partners" page on Wikipedia

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Dear Administrator,

I am not able to create "Copal Partners" page on Wikipedia, can you please help.

Best Regards, Atul — Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.144.118.2 (talk) 05:45, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

First, you must create an account to start an article. Second, the article for Copal Partners has been deleted six times by my count and the name has been salted which keeps an article from being created under that name. The reason is that the past versions of that article were clearly made for promotional/advertising purposes. Dismas|(talk) 05:55, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Can you please let me know how can I create the page in that case keeping in mind that it should not be for promotional purposes.

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.144.118.2 (talk) 06:07, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Probably the best way to deal with this situation would be to first create an account and then create a userspace draft which can then be reviewed to see that it meets the minimum standards before it is moved to Mainspace. In the meantime it would also be a good idea for you to get familiar with Wikipedia's ways of doing things by editing existing articles. Start with minor edits such as correcting spelling errors and as you gain experience and become familiar with the way articles are structured you can work on your draft. Roger (talk) 06:58, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

TEXT STYLE

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I CANNOT READ WIKIPEDIA IN THIS JOINED UP STYLE. IT IS ALL A MESS. MY WIFE AND KIDS FEEL THE SAME. PLEASE PRINT IT IN A CLEAR STYLE. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.235.202.137 (talk) 08:50, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nothing has changed at this end - most Wikipedia pages do not ask for any special font to be used. Please check your browser's font preferences. If you're not sure how to do this, post again here with your browser name and version number, and someone will be able to give you step-by-step advice. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:38, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting an account

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I recall at one point it was possible to delete an accountname entirely from all WMF systems without causing any disruption or loss of free-license content data. Is this still a feature we have? --Alecmconroy (talk) 10:28, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Are you referring to: Wikipedia:Right to vanish? Яehevkor 10:30, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  It is not possible to delete user accounts, as all contributions must be assigned to some identifier; either a username or an IP address.

All Wikipedia editors have the right to leave Wikipedia for good (ie, permanently). The usual way to leave the Wikipedia project is simply to stop editing. Your contributions remain in Wikipedia. If you wish to resume editing at a later date, you can simply start again by logging into the same account. Old accounts that have any significant edits are almost never deleted or recycled to new users.

If you decide to make a fresh start and do not wish to be connected to a previous account, you can simply discontinue the old account(s) and create a new one that becomes the only account you use. Discontinuing the old account means it will not be used again; it should note on its user page that it is inactive— for example, with the {{retired}} tag —to prevent the switch being seen as an attempt to sock puppet.

Editors seeking privacy per their right to vanish can have their accounts renamed and their user pages and (in some cases) user talk pages deleted. Feinoha Talk, My master

Usage of titles in articles

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I tried searching, but could not find any policies or guidelines on usage of titles in articles. Should the full title of a ruler be included in an image caption? For example, [1]? Bejinhan talks 12:33, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hullo Bejinhan. :P See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (royalty and nobility). -- Obsidin Soul 12:45, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
See also Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies) and Wikipedia:Manual of Style (captions)#Succinctness. The caption in your example was far too long. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:12, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Image not showing

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If I try to put File:99.9% Sure (I've Never Been Here Before) single cover.jpg in the infobox to 99.9% Sure (I've Never Been Here Before), it just shows up as a blank. What's wrong? Ten Pound Hammer, his otters and a clue-bat • (Otters want attention) 13:36, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

It might be too wide. The template page mentions 200px and that makes sense to meet the low definition 'fair use' image definition. --Aspro (talk) 13:49, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Just managed to get a different image for a different cover that was about the right size to display in the template. So I think that is all that's wrong.--Aspro (talk) 13:59, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
It's because of certain characters in the filename confusing the infobox parser. Not sure if it's the percent-character (which has a special meaning in URLs) or the parens or the apostrophe, but I renamed that file to File:Brian McComas single cover 1.jpg and added it to the infobox. DMacks (talk) 14:22, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

When are redirects considered useful?

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  Resolved
 – Redirect created at List of planets in the solar system. Thanks PrimeHunter. --Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 17:26, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

We have the article List of planets. The first section in the article is List of planets#In the Solar System and this section represents the main part of the article by length. Now would it make sense to create a redirect targeted at List of planets#In the Solar System under List of planets in the solar system? The redirect would appear a bit odd right now, but if the article were longer, it would arguably be a useful redirect. Furthermore it would satisfy point 6 at WP:R#Purposes of redirects. I just would appreciate some input if a reader really "should" be redirected in this case, as the section is more or less directly beneath the article title and if the additional suggestion in the search box is really needed here. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:16, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

List of planets has no info on each planet but only a link to its own article so it would be a poor target for the Solar System. Solar System planets and Table of planets in the solar system redirect to the featured List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System. If you make other redirects for Solar System planets then they should also go there. As a rule of thumb (I don't know whether this is written down somewhere), if two redirects sound like they are going to the same page, then they should go to the same page. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:30, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Then it seems it would make even more sense to create a disambiguation page under List of planets in the solar system containing a link to List of gravitationally rounded objects of the Solar System#Planets and List of planets#In the Solar System. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 16:42, 2 August 2011 (UTC) Strike that, since List of planets is already a partial disambiguation page and a double disambiguation doesn't seem to be needed here. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 17:16, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I can be logged in only on my country's wikipedia page. Why?

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I encountered a problem with logging in. I can easily log in to polish Wikipedia. I read an article and i change language to read it in english. Suddenly I'm not logged in and when i try to log in I get "Incorrect password or confirmation code entered. Please try again". I changed language back to polish and I was still logged in. How can it be that password works on polish Wikipedia only? I tried logging out from polish Wikipedia and log on straight from US site but same thing happens 85.89.189.79 (talk) 18:35, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You might also want to look at this page, pl:Pomoc:Konto_uniwersalne on the Polish Wikipedia. It is the Polish version of this page, Wikipedia:Unified login. GB fan please review my editing 18:47, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Requesting an Article

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I have tried to request an article about AVANCE, Inc.. I cannot figure out how to do so. I have gone to the request page and selected the nonprofis topic. Once I am on that page I dont know how to actually type up and sumbit the request. Can you help me do this?

Brief summary: AVANCE, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering comprehensive early childhood education, parenting and family support services.

References: www.avance.org, http://www.wkkf.org/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.90.251.77 (talk) 18:38, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Being a not-for-profit organisation does not make it notable. Have you got reliable, independent sources which would show that the organisation meets the criteria for inclusion on Wikipedia? -- PhantomSteve.alt/talk\[alternative account of Phantomsteve] 09:51, 3 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2010 U.S. Census data bot?

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Hello, this is a curious question concerning the 2010 United States Census data. I have noticed that most articles concerning cities in the U.S. have the outdated 2000 Census data for demographics. Will Wikipedia create a bot for the 2010 Census? If so, when is this expected to be created? If not, why? Other articles that have been updated, do not follow the 2000 Census data and are very over detailed such as Arcata, California and Sacramento, California and obstruct main points as we can go to the sources themselves for more inside info. Thanks. Moalli (talk)

Wikipedia:2010_US_Census contains information about this, does that help? CaptRik (talk) 20:03, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a page for a company I work for. Is this kosher?

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I work for a Canadian Telecommunications company called TekSavvy Solutions Inc. Now, despite the fact we're a company with a strong tie to the Internet and a good following, we do not have a Wikipedia page. I was brought on as a communications specialist back in May and when I realized this, I wanted to fix it (even though I'm more of a reader of Wikipedia than an editor).

Now, upon reading the rules and restrictions on Wikipedia, it sounds like I cannot create this page because it would be similar to advertising. Do I have this correctly?

I want to start work on this and have it looking appropriate before officially posting a Wikipedia page for TekSavvy so it can be properly represented as a Canadian Telecommunications company on Wikipedia.

So again, would it be okay for me to create this page or does that constitute advertising?

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Teksavvy wrotkowski (talkcontribs) 19:02, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You got two issues here, notability and potential for conflict of interest. First check the relevant notability guideline for commercial organizations, WP:COMPANY, to see if your company meets the criteria for inclusion. Otherwise the article will be deleted. Assuming that the company is in fact notable (coverage in reliable sources, etc.), check the guideline on conflict of interest, WP:COI. Now, the second one does not actually preclude you from making the article. What it does say is that you have to be very careful in making sure the article is neutral. In particular the Wikipedia article should not be a PR press release or anything like that. If you create the article but stick to just the basic facts (when created, what industry, who the head is, etc.) you should be ok (note: people vary in their interpretation of WP:COI so this is essentially how I see it). If you want to write whatever you want, try MyWikiBiz.
On the other hand, they ARE going to make you change your username as that kind of username would be regarded as promotional, which is a no-no.Volunteer Marek (talk) 19:22, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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Is there a tool that can create wikilinks from all entries in a category, ie transform a category into an edible page, such that I have a list of wikilinks? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 19:58, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:CatScan. The page talks about category intersection, but if you enter only one category name you get a category listing. Select "Wiki" format near the bottom of the tool page. -- John of Reading (talk) 20:18, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks John. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 20:50, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Split history

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I know it is possible to do a history merge, but is it possible to do a history split? The article previously known as Mile-High Tower has been moved and subsequently edited a number of times today to make a very different sounding article. Unfortunately, as I have pointed out on the talk page, there is little evidence that the current name is in any way linked to the previous name apart from them being project(s) for the same company. What I would like to see is a new article called Kingdom Tower (Jeddah) with essentially the current contents, while Mile-High Tower is reverted to its previous state before today's edits. Of course, if someone comes up with some evidence in a reliabel source that these are in fact the same project, I will fully support a later merge proposal. Astronaut (talk) 20:10, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, this is possible (example) but you need to flag down an administrator. -- John of Reading (talk) 20:21, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. Maybe it'll be better if I wait a day or two in case someone comes up with something on the talk page. Astronaut (talk) 20:30, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Adding items to Discography

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I added 2 new items to the Discography page and when finished, the whole Discography appeared under the header "External Links", not "Discography". Also, the "PersonData" appeared under the Discography which is now all under the "External Links" header. How can I move the Discography box and items to appear under "Discography"? Afrasia (talk) 20:52, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

  Fixed by User:John of Reading in this edit. – ukexpat (talk) 20:57, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

IN ERROR I BLOCKED AN ACTIVE GAME OF FRONTIERVILLE`````.

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HOW DO I GET THIS GAME BACK IN IT ENTIRETY`````

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. GB fan please review my editing 21:01, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice

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Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice

I've just edited the Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice page to respond to the tags that have been there during 2009-10. Can someone un-tag that page and remove the ! notice that still appears there? 21:29, 2 August 2011 (UTC)149.101.1.120 (talk)

The issues pointed out in the template are all still present in my opinion, so the template is appropriate on this article. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 21:46, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Most importantly, this article needs reliable sources (see Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources). This is needed to establish the sections notability (see Wikipedia:Notability). Wikipedia is supposed to contain only articles on topics that are considered notable according to that guideline at the second link. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 21:58, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I have PRODded the article. I doubt that individual sections of the ABA meet the WP:ORG criteria. – ukexpat (talk) 16:02, 3 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Adding a photo to an article.

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This image and this image showing "Chief Yeoman George Ellis" on board the USS Brooklyn in 1898, shortly before he was killed in the Battle of Santiago in 1898, should be added to the article George Henry Ellis, if our fair use policy allows. It is viewable at Google Book search; would they have any legal objections on the basis of having scanned it and made it available? Presumably the original publisher in The Century from 1899 would have no copyright claim. Where are the mechanics of capturing the image and adding it discussed? I can copy it in Windows via "print screen" then crop with Photoshop. Can the result be uploaded to Wikipedia, or does it have to go in some Wikimedia image database first? Thanks. Edison (talk) 22:02, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The book and photo were clearly published prior to 1923 in the U.S., so the images are in the Public Domain. PD images should be uploaded to Commons instead of here, so that all Wikimedia projects should use them. I have no idea on the technical way to get the image off of Google books and use it, but once you figure that part out, you should upload it to Commons. --Jayron32 22:09, 2 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I see thousands photos in pre-1923 books which might improve related Wiki articles, but I rarely mess with images. My big question is whether Google Books claims any intellectual property of images they paid someone to scan and which they make available on their site. Do they have any explicit denial of copyright for their efforts? Is that assumed, for mere placing the book on the scanner? Edison (talk) 01:51, 3 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
U.S. copyright law does NOT include the sweat of the brow doctrine: U.S. copyright law follows a different doctrine known as the Threshold of originality in order to get copyright protection. Faithful reproductions of works do NOT constitute a new copyright on that work; if the copied work was in the public domain, then all bona fide copies of that work are also in the public domain. Since google books is literally a straight scan of the original, so long as the original work is in the public domain in the U.S., then Google Book's scan is as well. See Threshold_of_originality#Reproductions_of_public_domain_works which explains this quite well. --Jayron32 02:59, 3 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]