Submissions/Editing -- excessive deletions

This is a rejected submission for Wikimania 2012.

Submission no.

37

Title of the submission: Editing: Excessive Deletions

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, panel, presentation): Workshop

Author of the submission: Anne Barschall

E-mail address: aebarschall@yahoo.com

Username: Anne Barschall

Country of origin: USA

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.): none

Personal homepage or blog: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/anne-barschall/3/a67/84

Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal): I have been distressed by excessively zealous deletions by self-appointed editors. There are highly educated scholars who can generate well-documented and footnoted scholarly articles on the most trivial topics, such as mating habits of species of beetles, and these articles will not be questioned. Others are less highly educated, but may want to start articles on topics that are of much higher interest such as issues regarding the entertainment industry or alternative health remedies. These less highly educated and less sophisticated people are much more vulnerable to having their submissions deleted. I would like to see a gentler approach, such as a way to flag information as needing documentation or as rumor/folklore rather than wholesale deletion. Sometimes articles about community groups, such as 12 step groups, have been deleted by people who really know nothing about those groups, with a high-handed assertion that they are not notable, even though thousands of people are involved. Eventually, proper documentation may be obtained, if the article is allowed to continue to exist, where deletion prevents such documentation from being accumulated. I would like to see a way of improving editorial policy to be less brutal to those who are unsophisticated or pressed for time, thus allowing this encyclopedia to persist as a people's encyclopedia rather than an encyclopedia for intellectual snobs.

Track: (I do not understand this question)

Length of presentation/talk: my goal is not to talk very long, but rather to get others talking

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: not sure -- I am more likely to be able to come during the weekend, as I may be taking classes that week

Slides or further information (optional): none yet

Special request as to time of presentations

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