Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Joseph T. Bockrath

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was no consensus. W.marsh 01:03, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Joseph T. Bockrath

Joseph T. Bockrath (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) - (View log)

This person appears to fail WP:BIO. Although the {{quotefarm}} in the unsourced, anecdotal, and misplaced "Famous Quotes" section reveals him to be a person of wit, the most notable claim that I can find regarding this man is that he wrote Contracts and the Legal Environment for Engineers and Architects, which ranks at #152,821 in Amazon. A Google search shows that his Wikipedia article is first, but Google also recognizes no backlinks. He does not appear to be the subject of any non-trivial published work, nor does this work of his have any reviews (see the proposed guideline, Wikipedia:Notability (academics)). Gracenotes^T § 23:18, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

• Weak delete - many (most?) college professors at major schools have published or contributed to one or more textbooks. I don't know that that's really much of an assertion of notability, though. If the article is kept, however, the quotes section needs to go. It's totally unsourced and many of them, if false, could be inflammatory ... WP:BLP. --BigDT 03:13, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
• Delete - This article provides no verifiable sources to establish notability. Guidelines clearly state that professors are expected to publish and that doesn't make them notable. The article includes a long list of "famous quotes" which are not famous by any stretch of the imagination. Shaundakulbara 04:43, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
• Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletions. -- Pete.Hurd 04:15, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
• delete I improved the page, removing unsouceable classroom quotations, and added the 4 or 5 universities using his main textbook. There are at least two law review articles, but I didnt look for them yet. I do not consider that this makes for a legal scholar, especially considering that only 1 of the universities is well known, and they all seem to be for construction engineering, which is not his field. I haven't the least idea what he was doing at a College of Marine Studies, nor can I source it. I try to improve articles for academics, but I am limited by their actual achievements. DGG 05:06, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
• Weak keep, He doesn't appear overly notable, however he has written a textbook that is used in a few universities programs, which means many have read his work and will come looking for answers; I hope Wikipedia will have answers. John Vandenberg 13:07, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

John, check on the page for what the universities are. DGG 01:45, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Yea, that made the decision more difficult, but in my mind, we want to be covering people who have written textbooks that are used by many. So, because his book is required reading for a good many people, at more than one university (which I assume means that the author cant be affiliated with all of them), I think it is worth recording who he is. e.g. "Contracts and the Legal Environment for Engineers and Architects" (ISBN 007039363X) is ranked #259,619 in amazon books; "Construction Management Fundamentals" (ISBN 0072818778) is #192,905 in amazon books. John Vandenberg 03:43, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

Having said that, I'm willing to be swayed. I dont know of those institutions, so if they are only virtual establishments or otherwise not-notable, let me know. (Im off to do some research on them now). John Vandenberg 04:11, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

• Keep If his publications are widely used textbooks then this alone makes him notable in his field. User:Dimadick
• Weak Keep, not because I am doubting the notability of the subject but because the article does not show it I cannot say keep Alf photoman 14:57, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm curious why you said "week keep" if you later wrote "I cannot say keep." Gracenotes^T § 04:28, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Can't say keep without week, hope it is clear now Alf photoman 16:14, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

• Weak keep - this search gives half a dozen brief mentions, then we have the books he's written and mention in courses. Borderline, however, possibly just scapes past WP:BIO... Addhoc 18:22, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.