User talk:Lauriemann

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Welcome!

Hello, Lauriemann, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{helpme}} before the question. Again, welcome! -Hit bull, win steak(Moo!) 18:37, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure where to post this, so let me start by doing it here before I find a more appropriate platform.

I have very mixed feelings about the anonymous nature of many Wikipedia "admins." Now, a few years ago, many anonymous contributors would post completely bogus stories to Wikipedia, making it very unreliable. These days, administrators tend to clean up that kind of stuff pretty quickly. However, a number of us have had news deleted because we were viewed to not have a reliable source.

The case in point - the death of science fiction writer Fred Saberhagen.

I first read about Fred's death on July 2 from a source I view to be extremely reliable - the obits discussion list on SFF.NET (http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=xover&group=sff.discuss.obituaries&from=-10). Just about everyone who posts their posts under their real names. I know just about everyone who posts there. In the many years of this group's existence, I don't think there's been one rumor planted on the list. When Harlan Ellison reports the news of a death or an illness, I don't think it's ever been shown to be false, and it was Harlan's Web site where the news of Fred's death first broke. Again, this list is not like, say, the USENET group alt.obituaries where many people post anonymous drivel. This is a list where many of the participants are known to one another.

So since I trust the information in the sff.discuss.obituaries group, I immediately added information about Fred's death to Dead People's Server (a site I maintain), and attempted to add it to Wikipedia. I've had an account on Wikipedia for a while, and make occasional updates. I do so under my own name, and not under a pseudonym.

I admit I failed to include a referential link when I first added information about Fred's death, but then added a link back to the sff.discuss.obituaries group. And then, I had other things to do, so I didn't spend much time watching Fred's Wikipedia page.

It turned out my editing of Fred's death was edited by some Wikipedia admin using the name of Quatloo. When John Scalzi tried to update the record later, Quatloo deleted John's edits as well.

Now, when two people make the same edit both using their own name, you'd think someone at Wikipedia would catch on. It took hours for Fred's death to be properly noted due to the stubbornness of one pseudononymous Wikipedia admin.

If someone could direct me to a discussion on trusted sources for news, I'd like to be part of that. And I'll happily contribute under my own name because I have nothing to hide, unlike people who insist on using pseudonyms.

[edit] On reliable sources

I emailed the news into a local Albuquerque news station KOAT-TV who replied -

Thanks you for writing. I am a fan of Saberhagen's work. Our condolences to the family. We will be doing something on this in one of our newscasts, 5 or 6.

Regards, Foxhill 17:52, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Et voila - http://www.koat.com/news/13615149/detail.html

[edit] Kathleen Woodiwiss

What news source reported her death I did not hear or see anything reported.? Stephanie Lang-Ley mammagooses@gmail.com


I included a link back to her funeral home notice: http://www.strikefuneral.com/2007/07/07/kathleen-e-woodiwiss/

Looks like it's hit a few papers: BLACKLISTED LINK REDACTED

But it hasn't hit Yahoo News or CNN yet. Lauriemann 21:23, 10 July 2007 (UTC)