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An editor posted a section on Jediism about the openness of one of the Jedi churches, and supported it with [1]. I'm wondering about the quality of the source, since I don't see an author or anything. Figured I'd bring it up here, and get some opinion. Thanks! Syrthiss ( talk) 14:50, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
[2] This website appears to be the personal work of a Gabriel Chow in Canada. It is being used to cite a change to the name of diocese of St Mary's Church, Stanley, Falkland Islands that is not used anywhere on the official website of St Mary's [3]. As the name is possibly controversial I have reverted those changes. I doubt this would satisfy WP:RS being used to cite a controversial fact, since it is a personal website with no comment on fact checking but thought best to check. Wee Curry Monster talk 16:48, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
This edit popped up on my watchlist. The source cited, CBN News, caught my eye. I've not seen them before. There are probably plenty of other sources available for that particular article and that particular piece of information so my question is a general one. Is CBN News regarded as an RS in general, in specific areas/topics or not at all ? They don't seem to have come up at RSN before. The Christian Broadcasting Network is fairly extensively used as a source in a variety of ways in a variety of articles. The subset of links to the CBN News part of their site are also used in a variety of articles including some BLPs. There is a Wiki article about the network at Christian Broadcasting Network. Their About CBN statement says
Here's a link to the CBN News part of their site. Thoughts ? Sean.hoyland - talk 17:17, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
This site http://www.mania.com/ seems to be run by experts in the field of entertainment and be a professional site, but I wanted to make sure. Mathewignash ( talk) 10:40, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
I am hoping within the next few days to nominate Somerset levels at FAC (as soon as I have the last few page numbers etc) and, although I'm confident about most of them, I'm sure some of the sources will be challenged, therefore I'd be really grateful if anyone could comment on those itemised below:
I know that look like a lot but there are a total of 133 references on the article. I will try to look for alternatives for some of these - but in many cases they were the only sources I could find for the claims. Any help or comments appreciated.— Rod talk 20:38, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
Can this You tube video ( You tube) be used on controversial article as Organ theft in Kosovo? I removed it, as per horrifically poor video quality you cannot even see who is talking, are those people really talking, or all of that is just bad propaganda mix. Majuru ( talk · contribs), who inserted in in the first place, keeps reverting this video ( diff, diff, diff) as he finds it good. Also, he thinks that after my only revert, i shouldn't start edit war, as this is "sourced content". I need some advice, is you tube video good neutral, reliable source on this article, or not. -- WhiteWriter speaks 17:34, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
An unregistered editor claims that a school's website is an unreliable source for what appear to be uncontentious claims. Can someone please doublecheck that I'm not way off base in disputing that claim and, if not, restore the deleted material? The other editor appears willing to edit war over this. ElKevbo ( talk) 20:31, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
The claim at issue is: "Radical" in "Radical Right", according to David Bell, means a "readiness to jettison constitutional processes and to suspend liberties, to condone Communist methods in the fighting of Communism." <ref> Daniel Bell, ed. ''The Radical Right'' (2000) p. 2; the original publication date was 1962. </ref> The cite is not available online, and I strongly suspect the claim is inaccurate from the bits I have found online from that source. The editors furnishing this cite have declined to present a full paragraph for the article talk page, reinforcing my request that someone ensure that the claim is fully and precisely accurate for a claim in the lede of the article. Thanks. (I would, moreover, request as a matter of courtesy that the editors responding not be those who have thus far failed to respond to the request with anything concrete). Thanks! Collect ( talk) 17:03, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
On working on the unpatrolled backlog I came across this article Earwolf The avclub is used here as a source, but the question is does it meet reliable sourcing criteria? Tentontunic ( talk) 20:04, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
Your article on German U-Boats XXIII left out U Boat 4708. My Uncle was killed on the boat which was sunk in Kiel Harbor in 1945. If you check the records on Kiel Harbor you will find this uboat was in ManMahnl Killian when it was bombed by the British in 1945. This U-boat should be added to the article as it looks like an oversight or that you did not have this information. Thanks
Bob Burger
I have tried to write a fair and unbiased page on WorldVentures but have had it changed back repeatedly - Saying that Success Magazine, Better Business Bureau, and Direct Selling News are not reliable sources. Yet the current sources contain links that have nothing to do with WorldVentures (the voice link) - this merely links to a homepage of a newspaper/blog that, upon searching, produces no information whatsoever. Being new and powerless to Wikipedia - I only seek help to make some fair improvements. What are suitable sources to use for a network marketing company - additionally, why aren't these sources suitable? Crossfiregk ( talk) 16:58, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Crossfiregk
There are interviews by network marketing experts on video (ex Dr Charles King) rating WV very high in the industry. Also, Pyramid Schemes are illegal and self collapsing - in true NM companies no money is made from recruiting representatives - only selling products. Pyramid Schemes attempt to mimic Legitimate Network Marketing companies - so the DUCK test would then apply to all network marketing - Avon, Amway, Pre-paid Legal, Mary Kay....etc. What caught my attention to begin with is that the current source "WorldVentures is considered to be a pyramid scheme by consumer organizations" from the voice is quite a stab considering there is nothing in the source whatsoever. Neutral POV cannot only reference bad publicity Crossfiregk ( talk) 20:55, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Crossfiregk
I came across Mid East Times references on several articles ..I checked out metimes.com and saw it is not a legitimate/useful website. I tried a link search on metimes.com which gave me 230 entries http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Special:LinkSearch&target=*.metimes.com . The sites in question are metimes.com & mideast-times.com . Please note that the links related to metimes.com doesn't exist at all. I tried domain whois on both sites : http://www.whois.net/whois/metimes.com http://who.securepaynet.net/WhoIs.aspx?domain=mideast-times.com&prog_id=289669
Mideast-times.com claims operations in Australia but registered with address in Saudi Arabia. I dont see Mid East Times as a reliable source either , with baised reportings. Thinking of removing dead link to metimes on Wikipedia. Thoughts ? -- Tinu Cherian - 12:52, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
Another editor and I seem to disagree about whether Online Degree Reviews is a reliable source. Can some others please look into it and provide some additional opinions? Thanks! ElKevbo ( talk) 03:48, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
Is information available on gamefaqs.com, whether it comes from its sister site gamespot.com or is created from its editorial board, a reliable source? I am not talking about user generated content, just the stuff from the editorial board. For example, this for the release date of bionic commando 2 http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/995377-bionic-commando-rearmed-2 . LedRush ( talk) 02:53, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
Release data on GameSpot/GameFAQs (the database is shared) comes from three sources: company press releases, research by staff, and user submissions (which are reviewed by a staff member and should be sourced).
Gamefaqs is not a good source for release data. There may be some editorial curation, but even their release dates can be user submitted. For recent games, it is probably highly accurate, those dates will probably come from press releases direct from the developers. But for older games, the data is hard to trust. Ballistics (video game) sources the release date from an archive of the official site here. It disagrees with Gamefaqs by 2 weeks. - hahnch e n 19:50, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
I'm not sure I've come across this before. A new editor added some material to the coaxial cable article using White Paper: Selecting the Right Cable System for Your Environment as a reference. Would commercial white papers possibly fall under self-published material produced by an established expert on the topic? At first I thought it might be OK, but our article says that "these types of white papers are almost always marketing communications documents designed to promote a specific company's or group's solutions or products." The specific text doesn't seem to be overly promotional...maybe to the industry, but not to a specific company. Oh well...just thought I'd toss it out here for discussion. Thanks for any input. -- Onorem ♠ Dil 14:26, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
Before using this website as a source on the Rain Dogs article, I would like to hear from other editors as to this site's reliability. The claim on the home page is that "These liner notes are completely, fully and faithfully transcribed from the original albums or CD's of the recordings, which were released by the record company. ... Remember, we have not changed or revised anything from the original work (even if we know it's wrong!), in keeping with our policy to present the original liner notes, in their entirety." Without doubting their honesty or integrity, I have to wonder who the "we" is who is putting this information online. Are these respected scholars in the field of music research? Or, simply fans doing this because they love it? Unfortunately, the Why we're here page does not answer any of these questions. So, to my fellow editors, does this page seem reliable? Or, is there a verifiability issue? --- RepublicanJacobite The'FortyFive' 17:26, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
I would like advice on the reliablity of The Free Thought, a Ukrainian-language weekly newspaper issued in Sydney. Although a weekly publication and published since 1949, tt doesn't come up in google news and seems to be run by volunteers for the small Ukrainian expat community. I found the newspapers website which seems to confirm the amateur nature of the newspaper. It is listed in Ukrainian Artists Society of Australia as a reference but no inline citations provided. I am arguing in the AfD that mainstream press is a far more reliable source for establishing notability. LibStar ( talk) 23:32, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
*sigh* I've already taken this source here and it was rejected, but one user is repeatedly re-adding it with the claim that it's reliable, so let's go through this whole process again.
Brian Clowes works for Human Life International, a rabidly anti-abortion political organization. He has written a book called Facts of Life, which was published by the organization he works for. This book is being used as a source for the claim that the Roman Catholic Church has been consistent for two millennia in its condemnation of abortion. (In fairness, we have made some progress - now at Ensoulment it says "Dr. Brian Clowes has written that..." rather than just stating the claim. However, since this is a reasonably common sentence structure when discussing academic publications, the sentence still comes across as authoritative.)
Clowes has no expertise in early Church history that would make him a reliable source per WP:RS. He has never published anything on the subject with any reliable publisher, either mainstream or scholarly/peer-reviewed. His book has exactly one hit in Google Scholar, and it's from a book about "the dangers of a world guided by the religion of atheism." His PhD is in civil engineering and systems science, not theology, history, sociology, etc. No reliable third-party sources appear to affirm that he is an authority on this subject. And Human Life International isn't exactly a reliable publisher.
Haymaker, who has repeatedly inserted this information, claims that because Clowes has worked for Human Life International for fifteen years and his book was "published," his total lack of credentials, and the publisher's lack of reliability, don't preclude the book from being RS.
Kindly set us right.
-- Roscelese ( talk ⋅ contribs) 05:45, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Can someone who is not stuck behind a corporate firewall (and who doesn't have kids in the room) check the source for the controversial BLP edit here and confirm if it is reliable. I am unable to access this site, and unable to find other details of this interview. Thanks 7 07:54, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
In this section a user is tagging and requesting translation and referring to WP:NOENG, as I was understanding, unless you are actually "quoting" a person the foreign citation is perfectly fine and there is no need to add a translation in the footnotes? Off2riorob ( talk) 19:46, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
A question of principles: if a news organisation is generally considered a reliable source, then should all its articles it publishes be automatically considered reliable sources, too? For example, what if two articles from the same newsorg contradict each other? Or what if there is an article about a product quoting or paraphrasing a company press release without any indication of fact-checking? Or what if there is an article about an organisation that just paraphrases/quotes that organisation's homepage without any indication of fact-checking? -- Rontombontom ( talk) 12:35, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Another general question. Are only text-based sources proper sources, or can photos and diagrams count as such, too?
An example. The article Iore is about a class of locomotives with cabs only at one end, which normally operate in pairs. However, according to a recent edit, in some cases, they also operate single. One of the sources cited to support the claim is this railfan album, which contains a photo (third from top) showing a single unit heading a regular train. As evidence that's pretty solid, but is it acceptable as RS? -- Rontombontom ( talk) 15:55, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Another example, for a diagram: this (archived) merger chart on the site of company Adtranz. -- Rontombontom ( talk) 16:32, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
C:\Users\Damian\Desktop\dam.jpg
The ordinance of southsea castle by A.L. Boxell is basicaly self published. However it is described by Philip Magrath (Curator of Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum based at Fort Nelson who probably knows what he is talking about)"A well researched and well written publication". I can't dig up anything about the author on the web. Is using it as a source remotely viable?© Geni 19:55, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
The following link has been used as a reference in the "Awards and Recognition" section of this new article:
External, Independent Review of DOVICO Time Tracking Software by TopTenReviews
Has toptenreviews.com ever been evaluated before as a reliable source? I am concerned that the "buy now" link on the review page, which leads directly to the Dovico site (with the interesting destination URL www.dovico.com/index-toptenreviews-time-tracking-software.html?cid=503) suggests that the relationship between the reviewer and the reviewed may not be wholly impartial.
Thparkth ( talk) 16:01, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Both Nicholas Hagger and Overlord (epic poem) use correspondence between Ted Hughes and Hagger as a source. The letter or letters praising Hagger's poem have apparently been published as an appendix in one of Hagger's volumes of poetry, but there is no confirmation of the content in reliable third-party sources. User:Sanrac1959, who has self-identified as Hagger's personal assistant, seems to be taking very personally indeed my removal of this information (and the sourcing to Hagger's diary of comments allegedly made by Ezra Pound). Since I have nominated both articles for AfD, comments by uninvolved editors at Talk:Overlord (epic poem) may be helpful to defuse the situation. Delicious carbuncle ( talk) 21:22, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Below is a copy of O Books' Statement
Statement by O Books
“At O Books we do not claim to be a major publisher. The imprint only started in 2004. But the idea that we are only a step above a vanity publisher is absurd, and potentially damaging to us. Go to ‘About us’ on the website for comments from the trade, and reputable sources like The Bookseller, the main trade magazine in the UK.
We have published some poetry titles that we do not see as commercial, where the author or a university or an organization might make a contribution to the production costs. Three years ago (when that section of the website was written) that might have amounted to 1% or so of our list. Now it amounts to a small fraction of that, in terms of numbers of titles and income. Probably far less than most independent publishers, particularly in the area of academic publishing and poetry. We just happen to be open about it.
It’s not my place to comment on the tone of the entry, but I can assure the administrators that we publish Nicholas Hagger on his merit and his sales. He has also been published by other independent publishers like Watkins. His titles get excellent endorsements and reviews, from serious people, prominent in the fields of art and philosophy. A sample review from one of the latest works of his we’ve published, The New Philosophy of Universalism:
In this magisterial work Nicholas Hagger unites the rational and intuitive strands of Western philosophy in the light of the latest findings from physics, cosmology, biology, ecology and psychology. His in-depth exposition of these sciences and their philosophical implications is breathtaking in scope and detail and fully justifies his declaration of a Metaphysical Revolution, which also has profound consequences for our understanding of world affairs. This is one of the most important philosophical books to appear since Whitehead’s ‘Process and Reality’ eighty years ago and deserves the widest possible readership. A stupendous achievement. David Lorimer, Programme Director, Scientific and Medical Network
Of course others will disagree. But I can’t see this factor as reason for deleting the entry (rather than revising it if necessary). The comment that Nicholas Hagger is a ‘wealthy self promoter’ is irrelevant. I have no idea how wealthy he is. But when did having money mean you weren’t able to write? How many other authors would that now exclude? And few authors today are not engaged in promotion of some kind. Nicholas Hagger has no financial stake or connection with, or ownership of, or shares in, O Books (one of several imprints in John Hunt Publishing Ltd, to which the same applies), and O Books has no connection with Oak-Tree Books. He is one of 700 or so authors we currently have on the website, and treated on the same basis as all the others.
John Hunt, Owner, John Hunt Publishing Ltd, O Books and other imprints.
O-Books www.o-books.net, Zero Books www.zero-books.net, Circle Books www.circle-books.net.”
Posted at the request of John Hunt/O Books
Below is a copy of the reference about Ted Hughes with details of
Christopher Reid's verification of the letters and publication of a letter in a Faber and Faber book:
Ted Hughes, then British Poet Laureate, commented in a letter to Hagger on 3 December 1996: “You hit a pace, a tilt, that really carries the reader along....Everything comes as a subordinate clause to your dramatic momentum, a hand waving out the express train window.” Hughes had reflected on his comment for 21 months. He had written to Hagger on 8 July 1994, “I look forward to seeing your epic.” On 20 March 1995 he wrote after receiving the first volume and the publisher’s request to comment, “I started reading it with fascination – I rose to it, the omnivorous masterful way you grasp the materials…Look forward now to reading the rest. I’ll try to get something by tomorrow. But will it help? Do comments help? Doesn’t the whisper go further than the shout?” On 28 January 1996 he wrote, “I’m admiring the way you bite off and chew up these great chunks of history in your epic. It’s good for verse – to become the workhorse for sheer mass of material. Pressure of the actual – the resources to deal with it drawn from elsewhere. I want to see the whole thing finished, though, before I make any comment….Keep up the good work.” The comment delayed from March 1995 finally came on 3 December 1996 (see above), after the completion of the work on 23 November 1996. It began “What a prodigious amount of work!” Ted Hughes’ letters to Hagger have been verified by Christopher Reid, who included a 6-page letter by Hughes to Hagger dated 19 March 1994 in Letters of Ted Hughes, selected and edited by Christopher Reid, Faber and Faber, 2007, pp.663-668. Fuller versions of Hughes’s letters regarding Overlord can be found in the one-volume edition of Overlord, pp.946-947.
WP:ABOUTSELF applies, see Overlord (epic poem) talk page. Sanrac1959 ( talk) 19:19, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
I had reverted this edit upon entry as I did not recognize patch.com [16] however, the about us makes me wonder if patch.com might be a legit non-profit news agency. What is the consensus? Active Banana (bananaphone 23:54, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Unless somebody has some explanation for how they can be so very wrong:
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.8601/pub_detail.asp The Shi Lang (formerly the Russian Varyag of the Kuznetsov-class designed during the Soviet Union) will operate Su-33 fighters already purchased from Russia ...
I shall be scrubbing them from our database: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=familysecuritymatters+site%3Aen.wikipedia.org Hcobb ( talk) 16:16, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Can anyone confirm/deny whether a list like this is a "reliable source?" It's being used to source dozens WP:BLP Olympian articles, essentially changing their status from "American/Hungarian/Whatever Olympian" to "Jewish American/Hungarian/whatever Olympian." It looks entirely self-published, compiled by a non-notable professor, and even has a section at the bottom where you can email the professor to "change mistakes." I tried to remove it from articles like this but it keeps being returned by a few over-zealous editors. Bulldog123 13:08, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Agree if you mean living people. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 17:49, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
A related sourcing question. What about the reliability of using a person's being elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame [17] to source that they are Jewish? I think it's a perfectly valid primary source that these people were in fact elected to the hall of fame, but is that by itself a reliable source that they are Jewish? - Wikidemon ( talk) 05:16, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
This is the ref in question:* Kastenbaum, Robert (2004), "On our way: the final passage through life and death", Life Passages, vol. 3, University of California Press, ISBN 0520218809 Specifically cited in the article Hanged, drawn and quartered as Kastenbaum 2004, pp. 193–194.
Here then is a quote from page 193 and 194 of the reference: "No documents have surfaced to tell us precisely why these indulgences in overkill were considered necessary. We are free to speculate. The following are four possibilities, perhaps you can come up with others."
The author is a Professor of Communications at Arizona State making four self-admittedly and crystal clear speculative guesses regarding a medieval practice as applied to Hugh Despenser the Younger. This is not a Reliable Source on the event.
"Questionable sources are those.... which rely heavily on ... personal opinions." And that's just it. It's not Reliable, its not an educated reasoned postulation derived at from expertise. It's a two-page self-flagged guess that has no place at Wikiepdia as a sourced and referenced basis for choosing one of the guesses and cloaking it in weasel-worded language to make it seem to be something it is not. This particular guess (the one out of the four that enters the article) is not a Reliable Source. Note that this: (1), although not directly related, was also recently brought here from the article. 99.135.168.164 ( talk) 19:49, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Located here. No, I do not mean using all users' posts as sources, but posts from the administrator and employee of Robbins as sources. She (Stephanie K.) is a spokesperson for Robbins and posts official announcements on the forum. I am just not sure if her posts should be used since they are located inside of a forum. -- ĈÞЯİŒ 1ооо 21:51, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
I've added on talk page a source for Syria article, discussing Moshe Dayan quote, from Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict book by Norman G. Finkelstein, which describes a "staged provocation" that sparked April 1967 aerial battle:
I know how at least 80 percents of the incident there started. In my opinion more than 80 percent, but let's speak about 80 percent. It would go like this: we would send a tractor to plow ... in the demilitarized area. And we would know ahead of time that Syrians would start shooting.
— Moshe Dayan, In an interview
There are additional sources for Dayan quote. To the point of April 1967 aerial battle, Mark A. Tessler adds in his A History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict book:
The final act of the prewar drama opened on April 7. Another conflict over the cultivation of disputed lands in the Israeli-Syrian demilitarized zone led to a major engagement between Jerusalem and Damascus. Following an exchange of fire between forces on the ground, Israel and Syria both sent planes into the air...
— Mark A. Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, page 382
Currently Finkelstein's book is used heavily in the article, to support different claims:
Some editors believe however that Norman G. Finkelstein is a bit partisan to be used. Could Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict book about used as a reliable source in Syria? AgadaUrbanit ( talk) 21:41, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
I came across this edit while working on an article yesterday and added it to a related article in good faith, but it would seem there are those who disagree with it. What I'd like to know is if Companies House is regarded as a valid source, and if so, whether someone with access to the site can verify or dismiss the claim. My long term view for both articles is to get them up to GA standard so any help would be much appreciated. Cheers TheRetroGuy ( talk) 21:52, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Is YouTube a reputable source when one is using the "official" channel of a given entity that seems to have found it cheaper to begin hosting its videos on YouTube instead of on its own servers? Banaticus ( talk) 06:26, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
Kenilworth Terrace ( talk) 08:01, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
The legend of Nyaminyami ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
The Wikipedia description of the legend is correct. That's the way I heard it told many times over in the town of Siavonga (on the Zambian side of Kariba Dam) and in the town of Kariba (on the Zimbawean side of Kariba Dam). The first time I visited Kariba Dam was in 1967 -- on the Zambian side only; and because of the armed standoff with Ian Smith's Rhodesia and his Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) I could not cross into Rhodesia at that time. Decades later I lived and worked in Lusaka, Zambia, 1995 - 2001 and crossed Kariba Dam between Zambia and Zimbabwe more times than I can recall, staying many times in both Kariba and Siavonga and boating on the lake, visiting the many remaining islands (former hilltops). There is a (Catholic) Memorial on top of the bluff overlooking the Zimbabwean town of Kariba, dedicated to the many dam construction workers who lost their lives between 1950 and 1960. The legend of Nyaminyami has been woven into the history of the dam's construction process. In Kariba I purchased an eleborately carved walking stick depicting the BaTongas' dislocation and the head of the Nyaminyami spirit. It exactly matches the picture of Nyaminyami illustrating the Wikipedia article.
Dr. Curt Wolters, Bellingham, WA
Is [20] which states clearly and without any equivocation:
a Reliable Source for calling the UAF "left wing"? Note the editors who found The Times, Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, etc. not to be RS seem to feel the AP is also not RS for such a drastic claim. Collect ( talk) 01:31, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Sean.hoyland's point is correct. Which is part of the reason why WP:NPOV are so difficult to settle. But if people want me to, I can take the time out, and examine the first 10 reliable sources about UAF (as determined by the Google search engine) and report back my findings. A Quest For Knowledge ( talk) 16:41, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
The article The Affiliate Marketing Awards and an article linked from it Murray Newlands look like they might just about be notable to me but the editor sticking them in is just citing them to what as far as I can see are a load of blogs and associated companies sites. It isn't at all my cup of tea so if somebody wants to go there and see what can be done about it that would be good as I get the feeling I might not be the best contact for a new potentially good editor. Dmcq ( talk) 13:01, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
The mentioned articles only need a little bit of information, I'm an expert in this area, I can help with it, please contact me Wikifanuk ( talk) 13:25, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
We are working on the problem of links to reliable sources going dead. We would like to get more input from the greater community. Everybody is encouraged to voice their opinions here. Thanks. - Hydroxonium ( H3O+) 14:37, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Informations were controlled in Nazi Germany, some "informations" were created by Nazi propaganda, some were censored or potential authors expelled, imprisoned or killed. Are there any general rules of quoting Nazi Germany printings? Xx236 ( talk) 12:57, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Der Große Brockhaus. 15th edition, vol. 20, Leipzig 1935, pp. 347-348 (in German) as asource in Ethnic history of the Vilnius region, 1933 in Połczyn Zdrój. Xx236 ( talk) 12:16, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
This is being added to various articles, eg [All elements and energies in the Cosmos can be influenced and guided by Mantras. ] (it was removed earlier as self-published), here to back an assertion that "All elements and energies in the Cosmos can be influenced and guided by Mantras, here for an assertion on diet, here for an assertion about a translation. Thanks. Dougweller ( talk) 15:21, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Michael Cherney ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
A user is posting material to the Michael Cherney article about criminal indictments and activity of living persons sourced to PR Newswire and Izrus.il. The former is a press release aggregation site and the latter is a Russian language web site in Israel which was described in Haaretz as an attack site controlled by Avigdor Lieberman, the controversial foreign minister. I reverted two edits on the grounds that these are not reliable sources for tendentious matter about living people, but would appreciate any other opinions and eyes on the matter. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 14:02, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Anything published in PRNewswire is by definition not from a reliable source. It is an aggregator of press releases, a species of advertisements. -- Orange Mike | Talk 21:59, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
In a BLP Nicholas Hagger currently being considered at AFD, about a third of the sources being cited are to articles in a small regional tabloid newspaper, the East Anglian Daily Times. Like many small papers, this one does not have historical archives online back before 2003 or so. According to WorldCat, the only library in the world that carries the Essex edition of this newspaper in its archive is the British Library in London; the Sussex edition is available there and at the Cambridge University Library. I understand per WP:SOURCEACCESS that verifiablily need not be free, nor even convenient, and that theoretically anyone could go to London to verify a citation to an article in this newspaper. But, I'm interested in what the community thinks. Should we use sources where there is, in effect, only one extant copy in the world? I can see going either way on this, and the consensus is not really likely to affect the outcome of the AFD, so it's more a question for the future. Fladrif ( talk) 17:43, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Victor Serge ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Please consider some changes and additions to the listing for Victor Serge. First, he is identified in the opening as (French--and this does not include a close paren. He is, of course, not French; he wrote in French. I also urge your editors to add reference to the outstanding introduction to Serge's Unforgiving Years. Written by Susan Sontag in the 2000 edition, it is an important look at Serge's literary contributions, which the current Wikipedia commentary lacks.
Thank you for your work.
Sincerely, Bonnie Bekken [contact information removed]
(follow-on from previous topic)
I am new here and obviously not clear on what goes where and am not even certain that editing this is what I am supposed to do to add to the discussion. I asked for clarification about what blogs are considered reliable sources versus what are not and was sent here by Dmcq from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Policies_and_guidelines#Clarify_please:_Blogs_as_independent_reliable_sources:
You're at the wrong place, the guideline is at WP:RS and there is a noticeboard for questions like this at WP:RSN. The answer is not totally straightforward, it depends principally on whether the blog is from a reputable source e.g. a newspaperman or a working scientist writing about his field would I think be okay and some newspaper blogs are fact checked, but the reliable sources noticeboard is the right place to go. Dmcq (talk) 08:53, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
In the discussion about The Affiliate Marketing Awards at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The_Affiliate_Marketing_Awards SummerPhD states, "At present, this article has 9 sources. However ALL of them are either theaffiliatemarketingawards.com or blogs. This article needs substantial coverage in independent reliable sources to meet notability guidelines."
In the Internet Marketing industry which includes Affiliate Marketing, all of the notable independent reliable sources I can think of ARE blogs:
* http://mashable.com/ PR8 * http://techcrunch.com/ PR8 * http://www.readwriteweb.com/ PR8 * http://www.adotas.com/ PR6
Blogs such as these ARE our "independent reliable sources", aren't they? Most high quality sites today including major media sites are blogs:
* http://www.cnn.com/ PR10 * http://abcnews.go.com/ PR8 * http://online.wsj.com/ PR8
We need clarification of what blogs qualify as independent reliable sources and which do not. As TomSF100 added in that discussion "They may be blogs but they are corporate blogs. Adrants is a blog with editoral guidlines — Preceding unsigned comment added by TomSF100".
Some blogs are promotional; some are associated with businesses; and many of us write the truth in our blogs as we see it - unhindered by having to kowtow to advertisers. Blogs are not all the same and ethical bloggers are different than run-of-the-mill bloggers.
Please clarify for us what information you favor on Wikipedia and which is a waste of time because it will be summarily deleted anyway. We do not wish to waste your time nor our own. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Please clarify (talk • contribs) 19:39, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
I suspect that guidelines may have been written before so many major news sites switched to a blog format. The Affiliate Marketing world is not likely to be written about by CNN, ABC or the Wall Street Journal so Internet Marketing news sites are probably the most reliable sources we can cite. Will those be suitable?
Keithbob: You wrote, "Of course a personal blog cannot be used". Could you please define "personal blog". Do you mean a personal diary type blog or are you including single-author blogs that publish posts by others in their industry? Many blogs that originally were single-author blogs are moving toward multi-author blog status. What about group blogs like http://FamousBloggers.net or http://ComLuv.com or well-respected single author blogs like http://Kikolani.com ? Does recognition by industry lists that publish lists such as Technorati's Top 100 Small Business Blogs List at http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/business/smallbusiness/ or the AdAge Power150 at http://adage.com/power150/ indicate reliability?
See http://www.adotas.com/2011/02/affiliate-marketing-awards-where-affiliates-shine-brightest/ TomSF100 ( talk) 19:14, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
I would appreciate some guidance from the community with respect to the following question. If a BLP indicates that a third party referenced the subject of the BLP, is the transcript of such third party referencing the subject of the BLP an appropriate citation/reliable source? Thanks for any input. Lawblogger18 ( talk) 06:43, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
This question is a follow-up to a prior RSN discussion on using Oprah as a source. [24] This case would be a classic example for exactly why WP:BLPPRIMARY bars use of transcripts and other primary sources in a BLP. As noted in the prior discussion, the judge, in a ~20-minute long rambling oral sentencing ruling, relates in passing that he heard something on an unidentified TV documentary that was said by a Dr. Weiner. What is being proposed is that, Oprah having been disqualified as a reliable source, this transcript is somehow a reliable source for the proposition that the judge was quoting something Dr Welner said. It is basically originial research by editors (a couple of SPAs who only edit Welner's BLP are the ones who added this material originally) concluding that the judge must have indended to refer to Welner, not Weiner, that he must have had in mind a 20/20 segment Welner appeared in, and it doesn't matter that the words supposedly being "quoted" don't match the words Welner actually said in that broadcast. Fladrif ( talk) 19:28, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
I think this is a pretty good application for common sense, but some editors don't seem to have that. If there is a university, and it occupies a site where the buildings are only a small portion of the property (the rest is mostly forested), would the brown square on Google Maps (in map mode) be a reliable indication of the property owned by the university, or would it be essentially guesswork by Google's team that could potentially have no basis in reality at all? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ τ ¢ 06:53, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
This [26] source is being used to claim that "Such was the influence of Achaemenid architecture...that is set the definitive style for Western architecture". I find this claim extraordinary, as to my knowledge the primary influence on western architecture is Greek, and the primary influence on Greek architecture is Egyptian. Already by the 10th-7th centuries BC, long before the Greeks had contacts with the Persians, the familiar Greek temple architecture was already in place. Thus I find this claim extraordinary. However, since I am not an architect, I am unable to evaluate the source. Who is Marco Bussagli? What are his credentials? To my admittedly limited knowledge, the book seems a little lightweight and tertiary as a source. It doesn't go into any depth at all. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Athenean ( talk) 04:25, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
I came across a link to this site concerning the recent death of the rock guitarist Gary Moore. I haven't encountered this site before, so am wondering if it is regarded as a reliable source. Cheers TheRetroGuy ( talk) 12:45, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
I did a search on this in the archives here and came up empty. Basically, can this be considered a reliable source for citing WP articles? ArcAngel (talk) ) 19:59, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Over at Wikiproject Video Games a recent issue brought this to the forefrount and we are trying to figure out what these reliable sources can and cannot be used for. Specifically, whether can be used for making statements in video game reviews without attributing it to the studio, the development team or specific member of it. IE, would sites like IGN and Gamespot be okay? What about sites like Gamasutra which focuses more on developers and development-related issues that a general-interest website? 陣 内 Jinnai 23:00, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
well an example doesn't come to mind as it evolved from discussion of a review which isn't quite the same. But basically it would be like IGN claiming that during the development process of Dragon Warrior they had an idea for multiple characters instead of a single hero, but were limited due to the cartridge size (this is confirmed by the creator). While the latter part certainly would be a factor that restricts content, it is generally considered insider knowledge as to what was cut and if the creator had not gone on record, how should a case like that be treated if they go out a claim it without attributing it? 陣 内 Jinnai 19:46, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Is this a reliable source for the SDCC event and it's exclusives? It's a named review, has an editor Rob Bricken, the former Associate Editor of ToyFare magazine, and the site is held by © Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC. http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/07/tr_special_hasbros_sdcc_exclusives_rundown.php Mathewignash ( talk) 20:50, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Majestic 12 ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
There is a problem I have mentioned in this section:
More eyes are needed there. -- Brangifer ( talk) 21:33, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Per previous consensus it was determined that reports from Media Matters would be considered reliable. I would like to ask an extension to this discussion, it is generally considered that blogs attached to a reliable source are reliable themselves, does this apply to Media Matters hosted blogs or not?
Also, please do not turn this discussion into reliability of Media Matters, that is not the question. The question is since Media Matters is reliable, are blogs from Media Matters reliable? W M O 01:24, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Actually the WaPo does link to progressive blogs like Blue Virginia and Not Larry Sabato but that's irrelevant. I think its fair to say that Media Matters wouldn't post anything they disagree with without stating so, don't you? W M O 03:08, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
From the sidebar of the blog in question:
That's where I got the staff from, being that they are a reputable organization, there has to be oversight over what their staff post, no? W M O 21:42, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
[28] is being used to back an assertion, added by the subject of the article Ro Hancock-Child here to back a claim that she has perfect pitch. I've modified the assertion twice now, but I'm not sure that even that web page justifies my modification to say " She has been said to have perfect pitch" (which probably won't stick as there seem to be some SPAs editing as well as the subject). Dougweller ( talk) 17:20, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Hi, - http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKnovel.htm is this reliable on the article about the living person - to support this content - Columnist Jack Anderson reported that, Charles Colson asked Novel to build a degaussing device that could erase copies of the famous Watergate tapes from a distance, which were stored at a secured location spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk - over 2100 links from this wikipedia
Michael Cherney ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
There has been an ongoing edit war over this bio, where a user (now blocked for 24 hours) has repeatedly inserted material about alleged criminal activities of living people. This diff includes two contested edits.
The first is sourced to Izrus, an Israeli based Russian language site. This Haaretz article suggests that the site is a captive organ of controversial Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman who is described in our Michael Cherney article as a friend of Cherney's.
The second set of assertions, originally sourced to PR Newswire, has now been sourced to two Hebrew sites, this and this with (suspiciously) the same headline given.
Would anyone able to read Russian and Hebrew care to comment on whether these sites 1. support the assertions made in the article and 2. are reliable sources? Thanks. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 00:22, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
If you turn on the translation function in Google Chrome, the sites will come up in English. Just tried it and it works. Lawblogger18 ( talk) 07:40, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
The subject page Michael Cherney has been locked while the dispute continues. Assuming the sources say what they are claimed to say, do any editors have a view about whether or not the above sources - namely Izrus, globes and ynet - are reliable ones? JohnInDC ( talk) 15:07, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Both Globes and Ynet are WP:RS sources. Unfortunately I have little time to translate, but if anyone tells me what fact needs to be found in the article, I'll see if it's there. — Ynhockey ( Talk) 19:27, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
There's a question about whether or not the site Vampire Freaks is a reliable source. I've used it as a source for interviews with metal/industrial/goth musicians. I thought sourcing interviews was not as stringent as general news. Opinions on this would be appreciated. — Torchiest talk edits 14:53, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Jacque Fresco ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Really I support the if in doubt leave it out policy but a couple of other opinions would be appreciated : - Is this youtube upload official and is the copyright status clear enough to use it to cite, this content ...
Good clarification to my rather hasty answer, thanks. I agree WP:SPS applies. There is a fine line somewhere between the assertion "Jacque Fresno says he joined the KKK" sourced to his own statement in the video and "Jacque Fresno caused a KKK chapter to see the error of its ways", which is certainly self-serving and extraordinary. Somewhere in between would be "Fresno joined the KKK in order to change it" which may also fall on the wrong side of the line as a self serving claim unless verifiable from reliable third party sources. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 13:35, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/ is used as a source in many articles about wrestling, including many WP:BLP articles. Is it a reliable source? Jayjg (talk) 00:47, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
Lanix ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
I have a problem with the Lanix page. User:Foxxygrandpa has added a section on 3D TVs that is not supported by the provided citations.
All of the cited sources are in Spanish, and while all relate to 3D TVs, none support the claims they are cited to support.
I have provided translations of the cited sources and blockquoted the material they purport to support below.
In 2009 Lanix revealed that it was working with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, DDD, and the Mexican center for research of applied technologies on the development of a 3D holographics based television which can be viewed in 3D without the use of 3D glasses.
Translation of cited source: here
As of 2009 the joint venture has succeded in producing two prototypes. Electronics industry analysts have reported that this could put Lanix and the Mexican consumer electronics industry as a whole on equal footing in terms of design capabilities with the electronics industries of Korea or Japan.
Translation of cited source: here
The secretary of academics at the university, who is heading the project, has stated that he wishes to use this technology to give Mexico a foothold in a specific large market which it can dominate due to its lead role in the development of these types of displays.
Translation of cited source: here
The project is being funded by both Lanix in the private sector and the Mexican government. Lanix hopes to began selling the televisions before 2020. If this goes to plan then Lanix will be the first company to sell commercial holographic displays.
Translation of cited source: here
If you look at the cited sources, you'll see none mention the Lanix Corporation. I have tried to engage the user about these edits, but Foxxygrandpa is non-responsive and reverts any attempt to remove the material. Fleetham ( talk) 03:26, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
Take a look at this material. We basically have a devotee of Theosophy -- she's executive director of the Theosophical Publishing House -- make sweeping claims about her own organization. It seems to me that more independent sources are needed for us to assert the Theosophy Society's impact. -- jpgordon ::==( o ) 16:19, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Trying to verify the contents of this source:
included into "External links" section of the article Saint Petersburg, I encountered a technical problem: slow download followed by a Windows’ notification «Low Virtual Memory». In the browser cache I found the relatively small HTML source of "280809_peter.html" (with lots of links to different scripts), and a heap of secondary pages and scripts some of which are more than 130 Kb.
Please verify whether this source is dangerous. Thanks in advance. — Cherurbino ( talk) 08:32, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
I was wondering if TV Guide's official website is a reliable source. I've been using it to source the episode titles and broadcast dates for the Mad episode list. Sarujo ( talk) 23:50, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
Does spelling and naming errors discredit a site? Their copy of the episode list currently features a small spelling error. On a previous instance, they had a wrong name for an episode, which was fixed later when they updated the list for more episodes. Sarujo ( talk) 18:59, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
Judith Ralston ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Judith did not go to Toronto Uni. She had no career in N. America and Europe, and won no competitions. This is mere fiction
This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
Archive 85 | Archive 86 | Archive 87 | Archive 88 | Archive 89 | Archive 90 | → | Archive 95 |
An editor posted a section on Jediism about the openness of one of the Jedi churches, and supported it with [1]. I'm wondering about the quality of the source, since I don't see an author or anything. Figured I'd bring it up here, and get some opinion. Thanks! Syrthiss ( talk) 14:50, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
[2] This website appears to be the personal work of a Gabriel Chow in Canada. It is being used to cite a change to the name of diocese of St Mary's Church, Stanley, Falkland Islands that is not used anywhere on the official website of St Mary's [3]. As the name is possibly controversial I have reverted those changes. I doubt this would satisfy WP:RS being used to cite a controversial fact, since it is a personal website with no comment on fact checking but thought best to check. Wee Curry Monster talk 16:48, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
This edit popped up on my watchlist. The source cited, CBN News, caught my eye. I've not seen them before. There are probably plenty of other sources available for that particular article and that particular piece of information so my question is a general one. Is CBN News regarded as an RS in general, in specific areas/topics or not at all ? They don't seem to have come up at RSN before. The Christian Broadcasting Network is fairly extensively used as a source in a variety of ways in a variety of articles. The subset of links to the CBN News part of their site are also used in a variety of articles including some BLPs. There is a Wiki article about the network at Christian Broadcasting Network. Their About CBN statement says
Here's a link to the CBN News part of their site. Thoughts ? Sean.hoyland - talk 17:17, 28 January 2011 (UTC)
This site http://www.mania.com/ seems to be run by experts in the field of entertainment and be a professional site, but I wanted to make sure. Mathewignash ( talk) 10:40, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
I am hoping within the next few days to nominate Somerset levels at FAC (as soon as I have the last few page numbers etc) and, although I'm confident about most of them, I'm sure some of the sources will be challenged, therefore I'd be really grateful if anyone could comment on those itemised below:
I know that look like a lot but there are a total of 133 references on the article. I will try to look for alternatives for some of these - but in many cases they were the only sources I could find for the claims. Any help or comments appreciated.— Rod talk 20:38, 27 January 2011 (UTC)
Can this You tube video ( You tube) be used on controversial article as Organ theft in Kosovo? I removed it, as per horrifically poor video quality you cannot even see who is talking, are those people really talking, or all of that is just bad propaganda mix. Majuru ( talk · contribs), who inserted in in the first place, keeps reverting this video ( diff, diff, diff) as he finds it good. Also, he thinks that after my only revert, i shouldn't start edit war, as this is "sourced content". I need some advice, is you tube video good neutral, reliable source on this article, or not. -- WhiteWriter speaks 17:34, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
An unregistered editor claims that a school's website is an unreliable source for what appear to be uncontentious claims. Can someone please doublecheck that I'm not way off base in disputing that claim and, if not, restore the deleted material? The other editor appears willing to edit war over this. ElKevbo ( talk) 20:31, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
The claim at issue is: "Radical" in "Radical Right", according to David Bell, means a "readiness to jettison constitutional processes and to suspend liberties, to condone Communist methods in the fighting of Communism." <ref> Daniel Bell, ed. ''The Radical Right'' (2000) p. 2; the original publication date was 1962. </ref> The cite is not available online, and I strongly suspect the claim is inaccurate from the bits I have found online from that source. The editors furnishing this cite have declined to present a full paragraph for the article talk page, reinforcing my request that someone ensure that the claim is fully and precisely accurate for a claim in the lede of the article. Thanks. (I would, moreover, request as a matter of courtesy that the editors responding not be those who have thus far failed to respond to the request with anything concrete). Thanks! Collect ( talk) 17:03, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
On working on the unpatrolled backlog I came across this article Earwolf The avclub is used here as a source, but the question is does it meet reliable sourcing criteria? Tentontunic ( talk) 20:04, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
Your article on German U-Boats XXIII left out U Boat 4708. My Uncle was killed on the boat which was sunk in Kiel Harbor in 1945. If you check the records on Kiel Harbor you will find this uboat was in ManMahnl Killian when it was bombed by the British in 1945. This U-boat should be added to the article as it looks like an oversight or that you did not have this information. Thanks
Bob Burger
I have tried to write a fair and unbiased page on WorldVentures but have had it changed back repeatedly - Saying that Success Magazine, Better Business Bureau, and Direct Selling News are not reliable sources. Yet the current sources contain links that have nothing to do with WorldVentures (the voice link) - this merely links to a homepage of a newspaper/blog that, upon searching, produces no information whatsoever. Being new and powerless to Wikipedia - I only seek help to make some fair improvements. What are suitable sources to use for a network marketing company - additionally, why aren't these sources suitable? Crossfiregk ( talk) 16:58, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Crossfiregk
There are interviews by network marketing experts on video (ex Dr Charles King) rating WV very high in the industry. Also, Pyramid Schemes are illegal and self collapsing - in true NM companies no money is made from recruiting representatives - only selling products. Pyramid Schemes attempt to mimic Legitimate Network Marketing companies - so the DUCK test would then apply to all network marketing - Avon, Amway, Pre-paid Legal, Mary Kay....etc. What caught my attention to begin with is that the current source "WorldVentures is considered to be a pyramid scheme by consumer organizations" from the voice is quite a stab considering there is nothing in the source whatsoever. Neutral POV cannot only reference bad publicity Crossfiregk ( talk) 20:55, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Crossfiregk
I came across Mid East Times references on several articles ..I checked out metimes.com and saw it is not a legitimate/useful website. I tried a link search on metimes.com which gave me 230 entries http://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Special:LinkSearch&target=*.metimes.com . The sites in question are metimes.com & mideast-times.com . Please note that the links related to metimes.com doesn't exist at all. I tried domain whois on both sites : http://www.whois.net/whois/metimes.com http://who.securepaynet.net/WhoIs.aspx?domain=mideast-times.com&prog_id=289669
Mideast-times.com claims operations in Australia but registered with address in Saudi Arabia. I dont see Mid East Times as a reliable source either , with baised reportings. Thinking of removing dead link to metimes on Wikipedia. Thoughts ? -- Tinu Cherian - 12:52, 29 January 2011 (UTC)
Another editor and I seem to disagree about whether Online Degree Reviews is a reliable source. Can some others please look into it and provide some additional opinions? Thanks! ElKevbo ( talk) 03:48, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
Is information available on gamefaqs.com, whether it comes from its sister site gamespot.com or is created from its editorial board, a reliable source? I am not talking about user generated content, just the stuff from the editorial board. For example, this for the release date of bionic commando 2 http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/995377-bionic-commando-rearmed-2 . LedRush ( talk) 02:53, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
Release data on GameSpot/GameFAQs (the database is shared) comes from three sources: company press releases, research by staff, and user submissions (which are reviewed by a staff member and should be sourced).
Gamefaqs is not a good source for release data. There may be some editorial curation, but even their release dates can be user submitted. For recent games, it is probably highly accurate, those dates will probably come from press releases direct from the developers. But for older games, the data is hard to trust. Ballistics (video game) sources the release date from an archive of the official site here. It disagrees with Gamefaqs by 2 weeks. - hahnch e n 19:50, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
I'm not sure I've come across this before. A new editor added some material to the coaxial cable article using White Paper: Selecting the Right Cable System for Your Environment as a reference. Would commercial white papers possibly fall under self-published material produced by an established expert on the topic? At first I thought it might be OK, but our article says that "these types of white papers are almost always marketing communications documents designed to promote a specific company's or group's solutions or products." The specific text doesn't seem to be overly promotional...maybe to the industry, but not to a specific company. Oh well...just thought I'd toss it out here for discussion. Thanks for any input. -- Onorem ♠ Dil 14:26, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
Before using this website as a source on the Rain Dogs article, I would like to hear from other editors as to this site's reliability. The claim on the home page is that "These liner notes are completely, fully and faithfully transcribed from the original albums or CD's of the recordings, which were released by the record company. ... Remember, we have not changed or revised anything from the original work (even if we know it's wrong!), in keeping with our policy to present the original liner notes, in their entirety." Without doubting their honesty or integrity, I have to wonder who the "we" is who is putting this information online. Are these respected scholars in the field of music research? Or, simply fans doing this because they love it? Unfortunately, the Why we're here page does not answer any of these questions. So, to my fellow editors, does this page seem reliable? Or, is there a verifiability issue? --- RepublicanJacobite The'FortyFive' 17:26, 30 January 2011 (UTC)
I would like advice on the reliablity of The Free Thought, a Ukrainian-language weekly newspaper issued in Sydney. Although a weekly publication and published since 1949, tt doesn't come up in google news and seems to be run by volunteers for the small Ukrainian expat community. I found the newspapers website which seems to confirm the amateur nature of the newspaper. It is listed in Ukrainian Artists Society of Australia as a reference but no inline citations provided. I am arguing in the AfD that mainstream press is a far more reliable source for establishing notability. LibStar ( talk) 23:32, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
*sigh* I've already taken this source here and it was rejected, but one user is repeatedly re-adding it with the claim that it's reliable, so let's go through this whole process again.
Brian Clowes works for Human Life International, a rabidly anti-abortion political organization. He has written a book called Facts of Life, which was published by the organization he works for. This book is being used as a source for the claim that the Roman Catholic Church has been consistent for two millennia in its condemnation of abortion. (In fairness, we have made some progress - now at Ensoulment it says "Dr. Brian Clowes has written that..." rather than just stating the claim. However, since this is a reasonably common sentence structure when discussing academic publications, the sentence still comes across as authoritative.)
Clowes has no expertise in early Church history that would make him a reliable source per WP:RS. He has never published anything on the subject with any reliable publisher, either mainstream or scholarly/peer-reviewed. His book has exactly one hit in Google Scholar, and it's from a book about "the dangers of a world guided by the religion of atheism." His PhD is in civil engineering and systems science, not theology, history, sociology, etc. No reliable third-party sources appear to affirm that he is an authority on this subject. And Human Life International isn't exactly a reliable publisher.
Haymaker, who has repeatedly inserted this information, claims that because Clowes has worked for Human Life International for fifteen years and his book was "published," his total lack of credentials, and the publisher's lack of reliability, don't preclude the book from being RS.
Kindly set us right.
-- Roscelese ( talk ⋅ contribs) 05:45, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Can someone who is not stuck behind a corporate firewall (and who doesn't have kids in the room) check the source for the controversial BLP edit here and confirm if it is reliable. I am unable to access this site, and unable to find other details of this interview. Thanks 7 07:54, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
In this section a user is tagging and requesting translation and referring to WP:NOENG, as I was understanding, unless you are actually "quoting" a person the foreign citation is perfectly fine and there is no need to add a translation in the footnotes? Off2riorob ( talk) 19:46, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
A question of principles: if a news organisation is generally considered a reliable source, then should all its articles it publishes be automatically considered reliable sources, too? For example, what if two articles from the same newsorg contradict each other? Or what if there is an article about a product quoting or paraphrasing a company press release without any indication of fact-checking? Or what if there is an article about an organisation that just paraphrases/quotes that organisation's homepage without any indication of fact-checking? -- Rontombontom ( talk) 12:35, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Another general question. Are only text-based sources proper sources, or can photos and diagrams count as such, too?
An example. The article Iore is about a class of locomotives with cabs only at one end, which normally operate in pairs. However, according to a recent edit, in some cases, they also operate single. One of the sources cited to support the claim is this railfan album, which contains a photo (third from top) showing a single unit heading a regular train. As evidence that's pretty solid, but is it acceptable as RS? -- Rontombontom ( talk) 15:55, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Another example, for a diagram: this (archived) merger chart on the site of company Adtranz. -- Rontombontom ( talk) 16:32, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
C:\Users\Damian\Desktop\dam.jpg
The ordinance of southsea castle by A.L. Boxell is basicaly self published. However it is described by Philip Magrath (Curator of Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum based at Fort Nelson who probably knows what he is talking about)"A well researched and well written publication". I can't dig up anything about the author on the web. Is using it as a source remotely viable?© Geni 19:55, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
The following link has been used as a reference in the "Awards and Recognition" section of this new article:
External, Independent Review of DOVICO Time Tracking Software by TopTenReviews
Has toptenreviews.com ever been evaluated before as a reliable source? I am concerned that the "buy now" link on the review page, which leads directly to the Dovico site (with the interesting destination URL www.dovico.com/index-toptenreviews-time-tracking-software.html?cid=503) suggests that the relationship between the reviewer and the reviewed may not be wholly impartial.
Thparkth ( talk) 16:01, 2 February 2011 (UTC)
Both Nicholas Hagger and Overlord (epic poem) use correspondence between Ted Hughes and Hagger as a source. The letter or letters praising Hagger's poem have apparently been published as an appendix in one of Hagger's volumes of poetry, but there is no confirmation of the content in reliable third-party sources. User:Sanrac1959, who has self-identified as Hagger's personal assistant, seems to be taking very personally indeed my removal of this information (and the sourcing to Hagger's diary of comments allegedly made by Ezra Pound). Since I have nominated both articles for AfD, comments by uninvolved editors at Talk:Overlord (epic poem) may be helpful to defuse the situation. Delicious carbuncle ( talk) 21:22, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Below is a copy of O Books' Statement
Statement by O Books
“At O Books we do not claim to be a major publisher. The imprint only started in 2004. But the idea that we are only a step above a vanity publisher is absurd, and potentially damaging to us. Go to ‘About us’ on the website for comments from the trade, and reputable sources like The Bookseller, the main trade magazine in the UK.
We have published some poetry titles that we do not see as commercial, where the author or a university or an organization might make a contribution to the production costs. Three years ago (when that section of the website was written) that might have amounted to 1% or so of our list. Now it amounts to a small fraction of that, in terms of numbers of titles and income. Probably far less than most independent publishers, particularly in the area of academic publishing and poetry. We just happen to be open about it.
It’s not my place to comment on the tone of the entry, but I can assure the administrators that we publish Nicholas Hagger on his merit and his sales. He has also been published by other independent publishers like Watkins. His titles get excellent endorsements and reviews, from serious people, prominent in the fields of art and philosophy. A sample review from one of the latest works of his we’ve published, The New Philosophy of Universalism:
In this magisterial work Nicholas Hagger unites the rational and intuitive strands of Western philosophy in the light of the latest findings from physics, cosmology, biology, ecology and psychology. His in-depth exposition of these sciences and their philosophical implications is breathtaking in scope and detail and fully justifies his declaration of a Metaphysical Revolution, which also has profound consequences for our understanding of world affairs. This is one of the most important philosophical books to appear since Whitehead’s ‘Process and Reality’ eighty years ago and deserves the widest possible readership. A stupendous achievement. David Lorimer, Programme Director, Scientific and Medical Network
Of course others will disagree. But I can’t see this factor as reason for deleting the entry (rather than revising it if necessary). The comment that Nicholas Hagger is a ‘wealthy self promoter’ is irrelevant. I have no idea how wealthy he is. But when did having money mean you weren’t able to write? How many other authors would that now exclude? And few authors today are not engaged in promotion of some kind. Nicholas Hagger has no financial stake or connection with, or ownership of, or shares in, O Books (one of several imprints in John Hunt Publishing Ltd, to which the same applies), and O Books has no connection with Oak-Tree Books. He is one of 700 or so authors we currently have on the website, and treated on the same basis as all the others.
John Hunt, Owner, John Hunt Publishing Ltd, O Books and other imprints.
O-Books www.o-books.net, Zero Books www.zero-books.net, Circle Books www.circle-books.net.”
Posted at the request of John Hunt/O Books
Below is a copy of the reference about Ted Hughes with details of
Christopher Reid's verification of the letters and publication of a letter in a Faber and Faber book:
Ted Hughes, then British Poet Laureate, commented in a letter to Hagger on 3 December 1996: “You hit a pace, a tilt, that really carries the reader along....Everything comes as a subordinate clause to your dramatic momentum, a hand waving out the express train window.” Hughes had reflected on his comment for 21 months. He had written to Hagger on 8 July 1994, “I look forward to seeing your epic.” On 20 March 1995 he wrote after receiving the first volume and the publisher’s request to comment, “I started reading it with fascination – I rose to it, the omnivorous masterful way you grasp the materials…Look forward now to reading the rest. I’ll try to get something by tomorrow. But will it help? Do comments help? Doesn’t the whisper go further than the shout?” On 28 January 1996 he wrote, “I’m admiring the way you bite off and chew up these great chunks of history in your epic. It’s good for verse – to become the workhorse for sheer mass of material. Pressure of the actual – the resources to deal with it drawn from elsewhere. I want to see the whole thing finished, though, before I make any comment….Keep up the good work.” The comment delayed from March 1995 finally came on 3 December 1996 (see above), after the completion of the work on 23 November 1996. It began “What a prodigious amount of work!” Ted Hughes’ letters to Hagger have been verified by Christopher Reid, who included a 6-page letter by Hughes to Hagger dated 19 March 1994 in Letters of Ted Hughes, selected and edited by Christopher Reid, Faber and Faber, 2007, pp.663-668. Fuller versions of Hughes’s letters regarding Overlord can be found in the one-volume edition of Overlord, pp.946-947.
WP:ABOUTSELF applies, see Overlord (epic poem) talk page. Sanrac1959 ( talk) 19:19, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
I had reverted this edit upon entry as I did not recognize patch.com [16] however, the about us makes me wonder if patch.com might be a legit non-profit news agency. What is the consensus? Active Banana (bananaphone 23:54, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Unless somebody has some explanation for how they can be so very wrong:
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.8601/pub_detail.asp The Shi Lang (formerly the Russian Varyag of the Kuznetsov-class designed during the Soviet Union) will operate Su-33 fighters already purchased from Russia ...
I shall be scrubbing them from our database: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=familysecuritymatters+site%3Aen.wikipedia.org Hcobb ( talk) 16:16, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Can anyone confirm/deny whether a list like this is a "reliable source?" It's being used to source dozens WP:BLP Olympian articles, essentially changing their status from "American/Hungarian/Whatever Olympian" to "Jewish American/Hungarian/whatever Olympian." It looks entirely self-published, compiled by a non-notable professor, and even has a section at the bottom where you can email the professor to "change mistakes." I tried to remove it from articles like this but it keeps being returned by a few over-zealous editors. Bulldog123 13:08, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Agree if you mean living people. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 17:49, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
A related sourcing question. What about the reliability of using a person's being elected to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame [17] to source that they are Jewish? I think it's a perfectly valid primary source that these people were in fact elected to the hall of fame, but is that by itself a reliable source that they are Jewish? - Wikidemon ( talk) 05:16, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
This is the ref in question:* Kastenbaum, Robert (2004), "On our way: the final passage through life and death", Life Passages, vol. 3, University of California Press, ISBN 0520218809 Specifically cited in the article Hanged, drawn and quartered as Kastenbaum 2004, pp. 193–194.
Here then is a quote from page 193 and 194 of the reference: "No documents have surfaced to tell us precisely why these indulgences in overkill were considered necessary. We are free to speculate. The following are four possibilities, perhaps you can come up with others."
The author is a Professor of Communications at Arizona State making four self-admittedly and crystal clear speculative guesses regarding a medieval practice as applied to Hugh Despenser the Younger. This is not a Reliable Source on the event.
"Questionable sources are those.... which rely heavily on ... personal opinions." And that's just it. It's not Reliable, its not an educated reasoned postulation derived at from expertise. It's a two-page self-flagged guess that has no place at Wikiepdia as a sourced and referenced basis for choosing one of the guesses and cloaking it in weasel-worded language to make it seem to be something it is not. This particular guess (the one out of the four that enters the article) is not a Reliable Source. Note that this: (1), although not directly related, was also recently brought here from the article. 99.135.168.164 ( talk) 19:49, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Located here. No, I do not mean using all users' posts as sources, but posts from the administrator and employee of Robbins as sources. She (Stephanie K.) is a spokesperson for Robbins and posts official announcements on the forum. I am just not sure if her posts should be used since they are located inside of a forum. -- ĈÞЯİŒ 1ооо 21:51, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
I've added on talk page a source for Syria article, discussing Moshe Dayan quote, from Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict book by Norman G. Finkelstein, which describes a "staged provocation" that sparked April 1967 aerial battle:
I know how at least 80 percents of the incident there started. In my opinion more than 80 percent, but let's speak about 80 percent. It would go like this: we would send a tractor to plow ... in the demilitarized area. And we would know ahead of time that Syrians would start shooting.
— Moshe Dayan, In an interview
There are additional sources for Dayan quote. To the point of April 1967 aerial battle, Mark A. Tessler adds in his A History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict book:
The final act of the prewar drama opened on April 7. Another conflict over the cultivation of disputed lands in the Israeli-Syrian demilitarized zone led to a major engagement between Jerusalem and Damascus. Following an exchange of fire between forces on the ground, Israel and Syria both sent planes into the air...
— Mark A. Tessler, A History of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, page 382
Currently Finkelstein's book is used heavily in the article, to support different claims:
Some editors believe however that Norman G. Finkelstein is a bit partisan to be used. Could Image and reality of the Israel-Palestine conflict book about used as a reliable source in Syria? AgadaUrbanit ( talk) 21:41, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
I came across this edit while working on an article yesterday and added it to a related article in good faith, but it would seem there are those who disagree with it. What I'd like to know is if Companies House is regarded as a valid source, and if so, whether someone with access to the site can verify or dismiss the claim. My long term view for both articles is to get them up to GA standard so any help would be much appreciated. Cheers TheRetroGuy ( talk) 21:52, 3 February 2011 (UTC)
Is YouTube a reputable source when one is using the "official" channel of a given entity that seems to have found it cheaper to begin hosting its videos on YouTube instead of on its own servers? Banaticus ( talk) 06:26, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
Kenilworth Terrace ( talk) 08:01, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
The legend of Nyaminyami ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
The Wikipedia description of the legend is correct. That's the way I heard it told many times over in the town of Siavonga (on the Zambian side of Kariba Dam) and in the town of Kariba (on the Zimbawean side of Kariba Dam). The first time I visited Kariba Dam was in 1967 -- on the Zambian side only; and because of the armed standoff with Ian Smith's Rhodesia and his Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) I could not cross into Rhodesia at that time. Decades later I lived and worked in Lusaka, Zambia, 1995 - 2001 and crossed Kariba Dam between Zambia and Zimbabwe more times than I can recall, staying many times in both Kariba and Siavonga and boating on the lake, visiting the many remaining islands (former hilltops). There is a (Catholic) Memorial on top of the bluff overlooking the Zimbabwean town of Kariba, dedicated to the many dam construction workers who lost their lives between 1950 and 1960. The legend of Nyaminyami has been woven into the history of the dam's construction process. In Kariba I purchased an eleborately carved walking stick depicting the BaTongas' dislocation and the head of the Nyaminyami spirit. It exactly matches the picture of Nyaminyami illustrating the Wikipedia article.
Dr. Curt Wolters, Bellingham, WA
Is [20] which states clearly and without any equivocation:
a Reliable Source for calling the UAF "left wing"? Note the editors who found The Times, Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, etc. not to be RS seem to feel the AP is also not RS for such a drastic claim. Collect ( talk) 01:31, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Sean.hoyland's point is correct. Which is part of the reason why WP:NPOV are so difficult to settle. But if people want me to, I can take the time out, and examine the first 10 reliable sources about UAF (as determined by the Google search engine) and report back my findings. A Quest For Knowledge ( talk) 16:41, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
The article The Affiliate Marketing Awards and an article linked from it Murray Newlands look like they might just about be notable to me but the editor sticking them in is just citing them to what as far as I can see are a load of blogs and associated companies sites. It isn't at all my cup of tea so if somebody wants to go there and see what can be done about it that would be good as I get the feeling I might not be the best contact for a new potentially good editor. Dmcq ( talk) 13:01, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
The mentioned articles only need a little bit of information, I'm an expert in this area, I can help with it, please contact me Wikifanuk ( talk) 13:25, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
We are working on the problem of links to reliable sources going dead. We would like to get more input from the greater community. Everybody is encouraged to voice their opinions here. Thanks. - Hydroxonium ( H3O+) 14:37, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Informations were controlled in Nazi Germany, some "informations" were created by Nazi propaganda, some were censored or potential authors expelled, imprisoned or killed. Are there any general rules of quoting Nazi Germany printings? Xx236 ( talk) 12:57, 4 February 2011 (UTC)
Der Große Brockhaus. 15th edition, vol. 20, Leipzig 1935, pp. 347-348 (in German) as asource in Ethnic history of the Vilnius region, 1933 in Połczyn Zdrój. Xx236 ( talk) 12:16, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
This is being added to various articles, eg [All elements and energies in the Cosmos can be influenced and guided by Mantras. ] (it was removed earlier as self-published), here to back an assertion that "All elements and energies in the Cosmos can be influenced and guided by Mantras, here for an assertion on diet, here for an assertion about a translation. Thanks. Dougweller ( talk) 15:21, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
Michael Cherney ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
A user is posting material to the Michael Cherney article about criminal indictments and activity of living persons sourced to PR Newswire and Izrus.il. The former is a press release aggregation site and the latter is a Russian language web site in Israel which was described in Haaretz as an attack site controlled by Avigdor Lieberman, the controversial foreign minister. I reverted two edits on the grounds that these are not reliable sources for tendentious matter about living people, but would appreciate any other opinions and eyes on the matter. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 14:02, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Anything published in PRNewswire is by definition not from a reliable source. It is an aggregator of press releases, a species of advertisements. -- Orange Mike | Talk 21:59, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
In a BLP Nicholas Hagger currently being considered at AFD, about a third of the sources being cited are to articles in a small regional tabloid newspaper, the East Anglian Daily Times. Like many small papers, this one does not have historical archives online back before 2003 or so. According to WorldCat, the only library in the world that carries the Essex edition of this newspaper in its archive is the British Library in London; the Sussex edition is available there and at the Cambridge University Library. I understand per WP:SOURCEACCESS that verifiablily need not be free, nor even convenient, and that theoretically anyone could go to London to verify a citation to an article in this newspaper. But, I'm interested in what the community thinks. Should we use sources where there is, in effect, only one extant copy in the world? I can see going either way on this, and the consensus is not really likely to affect the outcome of the AFD, so it's more a question for the future. Fladrif ( talk) 17:43, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Victor Serge ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Please consider some changes and additions to the listing for Victor Serge. First, he is identified in the opening as (French--and this does not include a close paren. He is, of course, not French; he wrote in French. I also urge your editors to add reference to the outstanding introduction to Serge's Unforgiving Years. Written by Susan Sontag in the 2000 edition, it is an important look at Serge's literary contributions, which the current Wikipedia commentary lacks.
Thank you for your work.
Sincerely, Bonnie Bekken [contact information removed]
(follow-on from previous topic)
I am new here and obviously not clear on what goes where and am not even certain that editing this is what I am supposed to do to add to the discussion. I asked for clarification about what blogs are considered reliable sources versus what are not and was sent here by Dmcq from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Policies_and_guidelines#Clarify_please:_Blogs_as_independent_reliable_sources:
You're at the wrong place, the guideline is at WP:RS and there is a noticeboard for questions like this at WP:RSN. The answer is not totally straightforward, it depends principally on whether the blog is from a reputable source e.g. a newspaperman or a working scientist writing about his field would I think be okay and some newspaper blogs are fact checked, but the reliable sources noticeboard is the right place to go. Dmcq (talk) 08:53, 6 February 2011 (UTC)
In the discussion about The Affiliate Marketing Awards at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The_Affiliate_Marketing_Awards SummerPhD states, "At present, this article has 9 sources. However ALL of them are either theaffiliatemarketingawards.com or blogs. This article needs substantial coverage in independent reliable sources to meet notability guidelines."
In the Internet Marketing industry which includes Affiliate Marketing, all of the notable independent reliable sources I can think of ARE blogs:
* http://mashable.com/ PR8 * http://techcrunch.com/ PR8 * http://www.readwriteweb.com/ PR8 * http://www.adotas.com/ PR6
Blogs such as these ARE our "independent reliable sources", aren't they? Most high quality sites today including major media sites are blogs:
* http://www.cnn.com/ PR10 * http://abcnews.go.com/ PR8 * http://online.wsj.com/ PR8
We need clarification of what blogs qualify as independent reliable sources and which do not. As TomSF100 added in that discussion "They may be blogs but they are corporate blogs. Adrants is a blog with editoral guidlines — Preceding unsigned comment added by TomSF100".
Some blogs are promotional; some are associated with businesses; and many of us write the truth in our blogs as we see it - unhindered by having to kowtow to advertisers. Blogs are not all the same and ethical bloggers are different than run-of-the-mill bloggers.
Please clarify for us what information you favor on Wikipedia and which is a waste of time because it will be summarily deleted anyway. We do not wish to waste your time nor our own. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Please clarify (talk • contribs) 19:39, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
I suspect that guidelines may have been written before so many major news sites switched to a blog format. The Affiliate Marketing world is not likely to be written about by CNN, ABC or the Wall Street Journal so Internet Marketing news sites are probably the most reliable sources we can cite. Will those be suitable?
Keithbob: You wrote, "Of course a personal blog cannot be used". Could you please define "personal blog". Do you mean a personal diary type blog or are you including single-author blogs that publish posts by others in their industry? Many blogs that originally were single-author blogs are moving toward multi-author blog status. What about group blogs like http://FamousBloggers.net or http://ComLuv.com or well-respected single author blogs like http://Kikolani.com ? Does recognition by industry lists that publish lists such as Technorati's Top 100 Small Business Blogs List at http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/business/smallbusiness/ or the AdAge Power150 at http://adage.com/power150/ indicate reliability?
See http://www.adotas.com/2011/02/affiliate-marketing-awards-where-affiliates-shine-brightest/ TomSF100 ( talk) 19:14, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
I would appreciate some guidance from the community with respect to the following question. If a BLP indicates that a third party referenced the subject of the BLP, is the transcript of such third party referencing the subject of the BLP an appropriate citation/reliable source? Thanks for any input. Lawblogger18 ( talk) 06:43, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
This question is a follow-up to a prior RSN discussion on using Oprah as a source. [24] This case would be a classic example for exactly why WP:BLPPRIMARY bars use of transcripts and other primary sources in a BLP. As noted in the prior discussion, the judge, in a ~20-minute long rambling oral sentencing ruling, relates in passing that he heard something on an unidentified TV documentary that was said by a Dr. Weiner. What is being proposed is that, Oprah having been disqualified as a reliable source, this transcript is somehow a reliable source for the proposition that the judge was quoting something Dr Welner said. It is basically originial research by editors (a couple of SPAs who only edit Welner's BLP are the ones who added this material originally) concluding that the judge must have indended to refer to Welner, not Weiner, that he must have had in mind a 20/20 segment Welner appeared in, and it doesn't matter that the words supposedly being "quoted" don't match the words Welner actually said in that broadcast. Fladrif ( talk) 19:28, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
I think this is a pretty good application for common sense, but some editors don't seem to have that. If there is a university, and it occupies a site where the buildings are only a small portion of the property (the rest is mostly forested), would the brown square on Google Maps (in map mode) be a reliable indication of the property owned by the university, or would it be essentially guesswork by Google's team that could potentially have no basis in reality at all? - ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ τ ¢ 06:53, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
This [26] source is being used to claim that "Such was the influence of Achaemenid architecture...that is set the definitive style for Western architecture". I find this claim extraordinary, as to my knowledge the primary influence on western architecture is Greek, and the primary influence on Greek architecture is Egyptian. Already by the 10th-7th centuries BC, long before the Greeks had contacts with the Persians, the familiar Greek temple architecture was already in place. Thus I find this claim extraordinary. However, since I am not an architect, I am unable to evaluate the source. Who is Marco Bussagli? What are his credentials? To my admittedly limited knowledge, the book seems a little lightweight and tertiary as a source. It doesn't go into any depth at all. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Athenean ( talk) 04:25, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
I came across a link to this site concerning the recent death of the rock guitarist Gary Moore. I haven't encountered this site before, so am wondering if it is regarded as a reliable source. Cheers TheRetroGuy ( talk) 12:45, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
I did a search on this in the archives here and came up empty. Basically, can this be considered a reliable source for citing WP articles? ArcAngel (talk) ) 19:59, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Over at Wikiproject Video Games a recent issue brought this to the forefrount and we are trying to figure out what these reliable sources can and cannot be used for. Specifically, whether can be used for making statements in video game reviews without attributing it to the studio, the development team or specific member of it. IE, would sites like IGN and Gamespot be okay? What about sites like Gamasutra which focuses more on developers and development-related issues that a general-interest website? 陣 内 Jinnai 23:00, 21 January 2011 (UTC)
well an example doesn't come to mind as it evolved from discussion of a review which isn't quite the same. But basically it would be like IGN claiming that during the development process of Dragon Warrior they had an idea for multiple characters instead of a single hero, but were limited due to the cartridge size (this is confirmed by the creator). While the latter part certainly would be a factor that restricts content, it is generally considered insider knowledge as to what was cut and if the creator had not gone on record, how should a case like that be treated if they go out a claim it without attributing it? 陣 内 Jinnai 19:46, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Is this a reliable source for the SDCC event and it's exclusives? It's a named review, has an editor Rob Bricken, the former Associate Editor of ToyFare magazine, and the site is held by © Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC. http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/07/tr_special_hasbros_sdcc_exclusives_rundown.php Mathewignash ( talk) 20:50, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Majestic 12 ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
There is a problem I have mentioned in this section:
More eyes are needed there. -- Brangifer ( talk) 21:33, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
Per previous consensus it was determined that reports from Media Matters would be considered reliable. I would like to ask an extension to this discussion, it is generally considered that blogs attached to a reliable source are reliable themselves, does this apply to Media Matters hosted blogs or not?
Also, please do not turn this discussion into reliability of Media Matters, that is not the question. The question is since Media Matters is reliable, are blogs from Media Matters reliable? W M O 01:24, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Actually the WaPo does link to progressive blogs like Blue Virginia and Not Larry Sabato but that's irrelevant. I think its fair to say that Media Matters wouldn't post anything they disagree with without stating so, don't you? W M O 03:08, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
From the sidebar of the blog in question:
That's where I got the staff from, being that they are a reputable organization, there has to be oversight over what their staff post, no? W M O 21:42, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
[28] is being used to back an assertion, added by the subject of the article Ro Hancock-Child here to back a claim that she has perfect pitch. I've modified the assertion twice now, but I'm not sure that even that web page justifies my modification to say " She has been said to have perfect pitch" (which probably won't stick as there seem to be some SPAs editing as well as the subject). Dougweller ( talk) 17:20, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Hi, - http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKnovel.htm is this reliable on the article about the living person - to support this content - Columnist Jack Anderson reported that, Charles Colson asked Novel to build a degaussing device that could erase copies of the famous Watergate tapes from a distance, which were stored at a secured location spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk - over 2100 links from this wikipedia
Michael Cherney ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
There has been an ongoing edit war over this bio, where a user (now blocked for 24 hours) has repeatedly inserted material about alleged criminal activities of living people. This diff includes two contested edits.
The first is sourced to Izrus, an Israeli based Russian language site. This Haaretz article suggests that the site is a captive organ of controversial Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman who is described in our Michael Cherney article as a friend of Cherney's.
The second set of assertions, originally sourced to PR Newswire, has now been sourced to two Hebrew sites, this and this with (suspiciously) the same headline given.
Would anyone able to read Russian and Hebrew care to comment on whether these sites 1. support the assertions made in the article and 2. are reliable sources? Thanks. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 00:22, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
If you turn on the translation function in Google Chrome, the sites will come up in English. Just tried it and it works. Lawblogger18 ( talk) 07:40, 8 February 2011 (UTC)
The subject page Michael Cherney has been locked while the dispute continues. Assuming the sources say what they are claimed to say, do any editors have a view about whether or not the above sources - namely Izrus, globes and ynet - are reliable ones? JohnInDC ( talk) 15:07, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Both Globes and Ynet are WP:RS sources. Unfortunately I have little time to translate, but if anyone tells me what fact needs to be found in the article, I'll see if it's there. — Ynhockey ( Talk) 19:27, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
There's a question about whether or not the site Vampire Freaks is a reliable source. I've used it as a source for interviews with metal/industrial/goth musicians. I thought sourcing interviews was not as stringent as general news. Opinions on this would be appreciated. — Torchiest talk edits 14:53, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
Jacque Fresco ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Really I support the if in doubt leave it out policy but a couple of other opinions would be appreciated : - Is this youtube upload official and is the copyright status clear enough to use it to cite, this content ...
Good clarification to my rather hasty answer, thanks. I agree WP:SPS applies. There is a fine line somewhere between the assertion "Jacque Fresno says he joined the KKK" sourced to his own statement in the video and "Jacque Fresno caused a KKK chapter to see the error of its ways", which is certainly self-serving and extraordinary. Somewhere in between would be "Fresno joined the KKK in order to change it" which may also fall on the wrong side of the line as a self serving claim unless verifiable from reliable third party sources. Jonathanwallace ( talk) 13:35, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/ is used as a source in many articles about wrestling, including many WP:BLP articles. Is it a reliable source? Jayjg (talk) 00:47, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
Lanix ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
I have a problem with the Lanix page. User:Foxxygrandpa has added a section on 3D TVs that is not supported by the provided citations.
All of the cited sources are in Spanish, and while all relate to 3D TVs, none support the claims they are cited to support.
I have provided translations of the cited sources and blockquoted the material they purport to support below.
In 2009 Lanix revealed that it was working with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, DDD, and the Mexican center for research of applied technologies on the development of a 3D holographics based television which can be viewed in 3D without the use of 3D glasses.
Translation of cited source: here
As of 2009 the joint venture has succeded in producing two prototypes. Electronics industry analysts have reported that this could put Lanix and the Mexican consumer electronics industry as a whole on equal footing in terms of design capabilities with the electronics industries of Korea or Japan.
Translation of cited source: here
The secretary of academics at the university, who is heading the project, has stated that he wishes to use this technology to give Mexico a foothold in a specific large market which it can dominate due to its lead role in the development of these types of displays.
Translation of cited source: here
The project is being funded by both Lanix in the private sector and the Mexican government. Lanix hopes to began selling the televisions before 2020. If this goes to plan then Lanix will be the first company to sell commercial holographic displays.
Translation of cited source: here
If you look at the cited sources, you'll see none mention the Lanix Corporation. I have tried to engage the user about these edits, but Foxxygrandpa is non-responsive and reverts any attempt to remove the material. Fleetham ( talk) 03:26, 11 February 2011 (UTC)
Take a look at this material. We basically have a devotee of Theosophy -- she's executive director of the Theosophical Publishing House -- make sweeping claims about her own organization. It seems to me that more independent sources are needed for us to assert the Theosophy Society's impact. -- jpgordon ::==( o ) 16:19, 7 February 2011 (UTC)
Trying to verify the contents of this source:
included into "External links" section of the article Saint Petersburg, I encountered a technical problem: slow download followed by a Windows’ notification «Low Virtual Memory». In the browser cache I found the relatively small HTML source of "280809_peter.html" (with lots of links to different scripts), and a heap of secondary pages and scripts some of which are more than 130 Kb.
Please verify whether this source is dangerous. Thanks in advance. — Cherurbino ( talk) 08:32, 9 February 2011 (UTC)
I was wondering if TV Guide's official website is a reliable source. I've been using it to source the episode titles and broadcast dates for the Mad episode list. Sarujo ( talk) 23:50, 10 February 2011 (UTC)
Does spelling and naming errors discredit a site? Their copy of the episode list currently features a small spelling error. On a previous instance, they had a wrong name for an episode, which was fixed later when they updated the list for more episodes. Sarujo ( talk) 18:59, 13 February 2011 (UTC)
Judith Ralston ( | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Judith did not go to Toronto Uni. She had no career in N. America and Europe, and won no competitions. This is mere fiction