Wikipedia:Reference desk/faq

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This is a first attempt at a faq page for the Wikipedia:reference desk.

The idea is that when someone encounters a question that has been asked before, they place links to both those questions here, under a meaningful header (possibly with links to other related questions as well). Once that is done, people can start cleaning up both the answers and the questions, merging them into one set. No two questions are ever the same, but a common ground could be found and the answer could be polished to perfection over time (making it more article-like).

Of course, all this assuming there is no answer to that question yet in an article. In that case the question could still be placed here, but accompanied with just a link to that article in stead of an answer. If that does not satisfy people, then that is an indication that the article needs to be adapted. In that sense the reference desk could be seen as an aid to improve articles.

How questions are categorised here does not necessarily reflect where they were originally asked.

Not all questions have all relevant reference desk links. Some have just one link because someone remembered a question being asked before, but not where.


Contents

[edit] Humanities

[edit] Persia vs Greece

[edit] Public Domain works that contain copyrighted characters?


[edit] Science

[edit] Work (energy)

[edit] What happens if the sun disappears or stops shining?

[edit] The edge of the Universe

This was asked before, at least once.

[edit] Why do men have nipples?

This has been asked several times.

[edit] Decomposition

[edit] Why wet things are dark

[edit] The Internet after a global catastrophe

[edit] Watertight ship's propeller

[edit] Cutting worms in half

[edit] Most valuable substance

This was also asked a few months earlier.

[edit] Spot goo velocity

[edit] Computing/IT

[edit] Hidden file

Hmmm, that's not a link to a ref desk, but is that a problem? The subsection no longer exists, though, which is a problem. :)


[edit] Language

[edit] Name for the first decade of the 21st century

This was asked later as well, but haven't found that yet.


[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Sneezing at the Sun

[edit] Volcanologist's wages

[edit] Oldest airline still in business

[edit] How do you check whether a company with a certain name exists?

[edit] What kept Hitler from invading Switzerland and Sweden?

[edit] Famous people on Wikipedia

This was asked a few weeks earlier too.

[edit] How many humans have ever lived?

This has been asked many times and the best estimates hovered around 100 billion.

[edit] Wikipedia mirrors

Asked very often.

[edit] Is marijuana bad for you?

[edit] See also

Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language/FAQs

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