quick review of notability guidelines present a selection of Wikipedia articles some have been accepted and some have been rejected for lacking notability decide for yourself if an article should be accepted or rejected then learn the fate of the article and what the community said about it Together, let’s have a frank discussion whether or not notability standards are clear and being applied fairly, or if we should take a real look into establishing some concrete notability guidelines.

1. Disputed Notability
A Hands on Workshop

2. Outline
● quick review of notability guidelines
● present a selection of Wikipedia articles
○ some have been accepted and some have been rejected for lacking notability
○ decide for yourself if an article should be accepted or rejected
○ then learn the fate of the article and what the community said about it
Together, let’s have a frank discussion whether or not notability standards are
clear and being applied fairly, or if we should take a real look into establishing
some concrete notability guidelines.

3. Notability Guidelines:
quick review

4. Notability Guidelines
A topic is presumed to merit an article if:
● It meets either the general notability guideline below, or the criteria
outlined in a subject-specific guideline listed in the box on the right;
and
● It is not excluded under the What Wikipedia is not policy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability

5. General Notability Guideline
If a topic has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are
independent of the subject, it is presumed to be suitable for a stand-alone article
or list.
● "Significant coverage" addresses the topic directly and in detail, so that no
original research is needed to extract the content. Significant coverage is
more than a trivial mention, but it need not be the main topic of the source
material.

6. General Notability Guideline
● "Reliable" means sources need editorial integrity to allow verifiable
evaluation of notability, per the reliable source guideline. Sources may
encompass published works in all forms and media, and in any language.
Availability of secondary sources covering the subject is a good test for
notability.

7. General Notability Guideline
● "Sources"[2] should be secondary sources, as those provide the most
objective evidence of notability. There is no fixed number of sources
required since sources vary in quality and depth of coverage, but multiple
sources are generally expected.[3] Sources do not have to be available online
or written in English. Multiple publications from the same author or
organization are usually regarded as a single source for the purposes of
establishing notability.

8. General Notability Guideline
● "Independent of the subject" excludes works produced by the article's
subject or someone affiliated with it. For example, advertising, press
releases, autobiographies, and the subject's website are not considered
independent.
● "Presumed" means that significant coverage in reliable sources creates an
assumption, not a guarantee, that a subject should be included. A more in-
depth discussion might conclude that the topic actually should not have a
stand-alone article—perhaps because it violates what Wikipedia is not,
particularly the rule that Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of
information.

9. General Notability Guideline
If a topic does not meet these criteria but still has some verifiable facts, it might
be useful to discuss it within another article.

10. What Wikipedia is not
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not
● Wikipedia is not a dictionary
● Wikipedia is not a publisher of original thought
● Wikipedia is not a soapbox or means of promotion
● Wikipedia is not a mirror or a repository of links, images, or media files
● Wikipedia is not a blog, Web hosting service, social networking service, or
memorial site
● Wikipedia is not a directory
● Wikipedia is not a manual, guidebook, textbook, or scientific journal

11. What Wikipedia is not
● Wikipedia is not a crystal ball
● Wikipedia is not a newspaper
● Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information
● Wikipedia is not censored

12. Select Wikipedia Articles

13. Mills River, North Carolina
Mills River is a town located in Henderson County, North Carolina (USA). The
town took its name from the nearby confluence of the Mills River and French
Broad River.[1] It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was
incorporated into a town in June, 2003.
Mills River is among the oldest communities in Henderson County with its first
landholder receiving a deed from the State of North Carolina in 1787. It was once
a thriving agricultural community, often called the “fertile crescent”.
Mills River Chapel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mills_River,_North_Carolina

14. The current mayor is Larry Freeman. Mayor Freeman took office in December 2013,
elected by his fellow town council members. The current town council members
include Wayne Carland, Shanon Gonce, Billy Johnston, and Roger Snyder.
Mills River is the second largest town in Henderson County, and it is home to one river:
the Mills River (South fork and North fork), and four schools, Mills River Elementary,
Glenn C. Marlow Elementary, Rugby Middle School, and West Henderson High School.
The Town Hall and Library are located at 124 Town Center Drive, Mills River, NC 28759.
Surrounding the Town Hall is Mills River Park, whose Master Plan includes ball fields,
soccer fields, tennis courts, playgrounds, multiuse trails, a dog park, shelters and
support facilities. The Mills River runs along the northern boundary of the property.
The Plan also proposes fishing piers with handicapped access and a boat launch for
non-motorized vessels along with picnic areas to enjoy the river.
It is home to 6,802 people as of the 2010 Census.

15. Mills River - 6,802 People
30,366 - Average attendance at a major league
baseball game in 2015
5,000 - Number of students at a “small” college
The point is that many towns, like Mills River,
have far fewer residents than major sporting
events or most colleges. Should population
factor into notability?

16. Populated Places
Todd Allen, Wikipedia editor
since 2004, admin since 2007,
arbitrator 2014-2016 term.
In practice, any "place" recognized
by a census or the like can have an
article. Even if there's not a single
non-primary reference available
for it. It's rather infuriating, since
they'd be much better handled in a
collection article like "List of
populated places in
Somewhereville County" (or some
similar administrative division
depending on country)

17. Desmond Penigar
Desmond Penigar (born July 16, 1981) is an American professional basketball
player. A 6'7" 245 lb forward, he attended Utah State University and Ventura
College. Penigar was a member of the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball
Association during the 2003-04 NBA season. As a member of the Asheville
Altitude, he won the 2003-04 National Basketball Development League Rookie of
the Year.[1]
Let’s look at his page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Penigar
http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/2667/

18. Derek Buttles
Derek Buttles (born September 27, 1989) is a football player on the Buffalo Bills
American Football League’s professional football team. He played the position of
tight end when he was signed onto the team’s practice squad.
Derek Buttles was born on September 27, 1989 in Pike, New York.[1] His parents
are Steven and Darla Buttles.[2] He attended Letchworth Central High School in
Wyoming County, New York. By the time he graduated from high school he has
proven himself not only an excellent football player, but also excelled in track
and basketball.[3] Buttles was on his high school’s honor roll.[2] While playing
college football at the University of Maine,[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Buttles

19. AfD

20. Sports Figures
Todd Allen, Wikipedia editor
since 2004, admin since 2007,
arbitrator 2014-2016 term.
Sports figures are another one. The
notability guidelines on them are
far too loose. If you've ever played
in a pro league, even for a few
minutes as a backup, in goes the
article, even if the only conceivable
information in it is "John Doe
played for the Somewhereville in
1999." Again, that's better as a list
entry (List of players on the
Somewhereville in 1999), not an
article.

21. Daniel Boyd (filmmaker)
Daniel Boyd (born September 14, 1956 in Martinsburg, West Virginia) is an
American filmmaker, author, and communications professor.[1] He currently
teaches at West Virginia State University, has hosted writing workshops, and
received a Fulbright Fellowship in 1998 .[2][3]
Boyd is known for his work with Troma Entertainment directing films such as
Chillers, which was primarily funded through state grants.[4][5] Boyd retired
from directing in in 2005 and went into professional wrestling.[5][3] Boyd was
inducted into the West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006 for his
contributions to the music genre.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Boyd_(filmmaker)

22. Background
Started November 12th, 2014
Since then, rejected by AfC twice - accepted on October 6th, 2015
1. Eschaefer2
2. Rankersbo
3. Kvng
4. Sanskari
5. Primefac
6. Werldwayd
7. Tokyogirl79

23. West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame
Boyd was inducted into the West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006 for
his contributions to the music genre.[6]
McVey, John. "Boyd to give Book Faire keynote". Journal News. Retrieved 6
October 2015.

24. West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame
West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame and
Museum Inc.
Bunner Ridge
Fairmont, WEST VIRGINIA 26554
MARION County
Contact phone: 304-334-8629
Web site: http://billjanoske.tripod.com
Contact e-mail: wjanoske@yahoo.com
Latitude: 39.4694434020234
Longitude: -80.0712433759758
We are an 800 seat facility. We have a Country
Music show every Saturday night from 6 - 11pm.
We are non-smoking and no alcohol. We do
serve food. Several times through out the year
we bring in Nashville acts. We are a family
oriented facility.

25. http://billjanoske.tripod.com/

26. Accepted Articles
David Craven, "Worm That
Turned", Wikipedian of many
parts
That's not the case, however. There
are many pages (often ones which
have not been found) which would
meet the criteria for deletion on
the grounds of non-notable. These
shouldn't be considered "accepted",
but they do exist.

27. Wikipedia:Articles
for deletion
Richard Morris, User and admin
Salix alba on en.wikipedia
Some may have been around for a
long time and escaped anyone
attention. The sample includes
companies like YTS-solutions, an
Indian "payment solutions"
company, minor political
candidates like Lennie Clark
running for senate in Arizona,
obscure lists like List of censored
T-shirts, minor musicians like
Chandralekha, a playback singer,
minor sports people like Brianna
Brown a collage gymnast and
various obscure albums and bands.

28. Rejected by
Wikipedia, but
seems notable
Richard Morris, User and admin Salix
alba on en.wikipedia
Sensei Williams (bio on school
webpage) Deleted page on
wikipedia who is basically the main
person in Ki-Aikido in the UK, head
of a school with 100 clubs and
many thousands of students. The
problem here is that there is little
press about the person, plenty of
links from various club websites,
but nothing in the mainstream
press. We may have to wait until he
passes away and someone writes
an obituary before there is a
reliable source.

29. Rejected by
Wikipedia, but
seems notable
Richard Morris, User and admin
Salix alba on en.wikipedia
Searl Effect Generator, a free
energy device. There are thousands
of references from the free energy
movement and lots of discussion
forums and blogs. undoubtedly a
hoax. This was a page I closed the
deletion discussion on, due to lack
of references. Wikipedia:Articles
for deletion/Searl Effect Generator
(2nd nomination) but the sheer
number of people discussing it
point to some notability.

30. Reporting
Jonatan Svensson Glad, Editor
and reviewer at Wikipedia since
2010.
If you find an article you believe
does not live up to our standards,
please flag them with templates
such as Template:Notability, or list
them for deletion at Wikipedia:
Articles for deletion.

31. Public trust in
print media
journalists is
lower than that of
Wikipedia
Guardian article by Ed Amory
YouGov polls show that trust in
print journalists is low, ranging
from 40% to 13% depending on the
newspaper, but eclipsed by trust in
the crowd-sourced Wikipedia at
64%
http://bit.ly/17aoRsy

32. Native Advertising
is harming the
media’s public
image
https://youtu.be/E_F5GxCwizc?
t=7m1s
Advertisements in major media
outlets portrayed as news, but in
fact are paid for by advertisers
disguised as news stories called
“Native Advertising.”

33. Questions?
Comments?
What do you all think about the
notability standards?