Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for creation/Help desk/Archives/2013 April 14

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April 14

duplicate name on "article for creation"

I have submitted an article for creation on Gordon Parker UK author. There is already a heading "Gordon Parker" How do I change my heading and what should I change it to?Delavallass (talk) 08:10, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

"Gordon Parker (author)" is a good way to disambiguate articles about different people with the same or very similar names. But a draft doesn't really need a title until it is created in mainspace so you don't need to worry about it. The reviewer who aproves the draft is in any case responsible for giving it an apropriate title. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 10:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Noel B. Gerson article submission (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Rthomasdwyer)

The reviewer had questions about my last two references in the above article, which I do not understand as to the concerns. These references were likely unnecessary for the article to begin with, as the first three references clearly showed Noel B. Gerson as an accomplished author who should be included in Wikipedia, having successfully written more than 325 books.

I can drop the last two references if you prefer, as the article stands on its own with the New York Times and Chicago Tribune articles I referenced. However, the last two references were included simply to help your readers learn more about the details of some of the books that Gerson wrote. Reference 4 is to the website www.bookfinder.com, which has been around for perhaps 15 years. It is largest source anywhere on lists of books, new or used, for sale and where they can be obtained. By going to this website, one can enter Gerson's name and his ten pen names, and then find the names of most of his 325 books and the dates of publication. Reference 5 was for www.historicalnovels.info, which I have found to be the most thorough web listing of historical novels. It includes vignettes describing about 50 of Gerson's works.

Again, please drop the last two references if they are somehow confusing. This major author has deserved recognition on Wikipedia for some time, and I was surprised that he was not previously included. Thank you for your consideration.

Tom Dwyer — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rthomasdwyer (talk • contribs) 09:40, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm not so sure two obituaries are sufficient. That would sound as if dying was the most notable thing Gerson ever did. Don't we have some coverage from when he was alive, or textbooks about modern American literature that mention him? I don't think either http://www.bookfinder.com or http://www.historicalnovels.info is a reliable source by Wikipedia's standards, but if you want to cite them, you should provide links to the relevant web pages that actually confirm what you cite them for, not just to their homepages. Huon (talk) 19:52, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Review of Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Donna M. Loring

Hello, I recently submitted my article on Donna M. Loring for review and it was declined today. The reasoning behind it being declined was inadequate sourcing; I am not entirely sure what the problem is. I have five sources and only one of them seemed as though it may be considered inadequate, as it was a personal review of the play Loring wrote and produced. However, the information used from that source was very minor, in fact, all I took from it was the title of the play, as I was unsure of what it was. If the problem is that I had not cited enough information, It is because I misunderstood the extent to which we must cite. I was under the impression that a citation indicates that all information proceeding a citation number is considered to be cited from that source. If the problem is simply that each statement must be individually cited rather than grouped based upon the source, I can go back and fix that, adding a citation to each piece of information rather than simply citing a bulk of facts to a single source. I would also like to add that I am writing this article for a senior level class at UNH Durham. The primary purpose of writing articles is because of how inadequately Native Americans Writers are represented online, mainly that very few are recognized at all, making sources very limited. Another primary goal is to help future students to have credible sources, I understand that Wikipedia has a very strict policy when it comes to sourcing but I have verified all information within my article by reading Loring's book; unfortunately there exists no digital copy of the book, which brings me to a question: Is it possible to put a quote from her book if there is no way for me to cite it from a digital source? I have found several passages which are very helpful in understanding the struggle Loring has faced in her time as the Tribal Representative, but, again, there is no online version of her book. Thank you for your time and consideration. Chucklesb011 (talk) 18:30, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

I don't think any of your sources are adequate; most look like primary sources to me that were written by organizations Loring is closely associated with; the same would hold for her own book. The only independent source is the Indigenous New England Literature blog, and that doesn't seem to be subject to editorial oversight; it's not a reliable source. Wikipedia content should be based on reliable sources that are independent of the subject, such as newspaper articles or articles in reputable magazines, and the draft should be a summary of what such sources say about Loring. Huon (talk) 19:43, 14 April 2013 (UTC)