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The Original Barnstar |
| I award you this barnstar for recent tireless work, especially on Derek Sherinian, Planet X, and numerous other music related articles!!! RockyMM 11:31, 12 September 2006 (UTC) |
[edit] Advocate For
- Group collaboration via the Web or otherwise, period. Tvccs generally supports the group collaboration model promoted by Wikipedia, has publicly done so for years before the launch of the Wikipedia project, and has published material specific to Wikipedia in print and other forums.
- As of December 5, 2006, not loading images of any kind to Wikipedia as long as the current interpretation of "policy" regarding fair use images remains in place, which is with rare exception that no image can be used of a living person unless it is released under GFDL, under the premise that a free image might someday be taken and made available, and that Fair Use was abused prior. Im my case, this policy is being selectively enforced by the admin Ouadell and surrogates thereof, who tag and delete fair use images, especially of those Wikipedians that publicly disagree with their interpretation of Wikipedia "policy". I have recently had dozens of images and many dozens of hours of work simply blown away by the select few that seek the pseudo-goal of a totally "free" Wikipedia. Of course, other Wikipedians may do as they believe is correct, but at this point, as a professional photographer, I wouldn't post a "free" image on Wikipedia even if I was paid. Prior to these actions, I have considered publishing dozens of original images to Wikipedia under a Creative Commons license. No more.
- Having a high level of direct knowledge, and/or if necessary thoroughly researching through multiple sources, before marking articles for deletion or otherwise editing or changing Wikipedia content. Tvccs believes too many Wikipedia contributors attempt to edit content they do not have enough knowledge on to properly edit, sanitize content that is otherwise factually correct, fail to properly research readily available Wikipedia and Web sources before editing content they are otherwise not sufficiently familiar with, and fail to attempt to verify quotes and related material with original sources whenever possible before deleting them or accepting them as fact. This may also be seen as advocating standards common to traditional American journalism for accuracy.
- The idea that Wikipedia editors should concentrate on improving their own writing and research skills first before assuming the role of editor. Tvccs finds there are Wikipedians with little or no actual writing experience or actual original contributions that have appointed themselves editors of the contributions of others, and that they would rather spend time removing content than improving it for whatever reason, or lack thereof, that might exist. Tvccs finds this behavior sometimes borders on the absurd, much as if a person who'd recently graduated from whatever school and had "read the manual" but had no actual job experience was placed in charge of persons with hundreds of years of collective experience - or as if someone was appointed president of a company who'd done little more than memorize the mission statement. In nearly all cases, such a system would be a prescription for disaster, and Wikipedia is no exception.
- The inclusion of User Review Links and collaborative ratings for music from sites such as Amazon.com as a supplement to AMG and other so-called expert sources.
- The inclusion of collaborative original research to supplement and/or correct that which is otherwise available as appropriate and/or needed. Tvccs believes Wikipedia needs to amend its policies to allow the inclusion of original research, and would be well served by establishing administrator or other groups that would serve to review and approve original research by qualified individuals by subject area as the range and influence of Wikipedia continues to expand. Tvccs believes not doing so negates one of the largest potential useful aspects of Wikipedia which currently requires publication in another "credible" source regardless of the actual correctness thereof, which is generally only able to be argued against by those who have significant first-hand direct knowledge (original research) of a given topic. In not doing so Wikipedia can propogate on a worldwide basis mistakes and errors put forward by so-called credible sources, and can do a major disservice in hiding behind the no original research banner, which has become an increasingly common mistake on the part of American television and media outlets. Tvccs does not believe single-level research is a substitute for depth, or that sloppiness in research is justified because "I found it somewhere else that I thought was supposed to be credible". Most journalists know that there can be multiple "credible" sources with opposite reports on reality, and the skill required is to parse back through multiple levels of research to determine as best as reasonably possible the actual facts. The reality is that Wikipedia is already loaded with "original research" on a huge variety of subjects, and much of that content is already better than that found in other sources. Tvccs speaks to this subject with direct knowledge at extended levels, i.e. original research.
- The inclusion of external links to supplement Wikipedia articles until new articles are written.
- The inclusion of multimedia items to supplement materials presented concerning musical artists and others as available. Tvccs believes most computer users have access to free tools for multimedia playback in a variety of forms, and it is generally unnecessary to rely on less common formats such as .ogg for playback of multimedia items. Tvccs also believes that full performances or substantial excerpts are more useful than :30 samples in representing an artist's or other work, and that video should be used whenever available.
- The application of common sense standards regarding copyrighted material that a page author has received permission to use, as opposed to a trigger-happy application of CSD or assumption of a Copyright violation where even direct e-mail permission granted by the original artist or author is treated as suspect/fake out of the block, regardless of a user's contribution history, background, and/or expertise. Tvccs believes that Wikipedia has become too restrictive on copyright matters related to content such as YouTube, that it is completely wrong to to assume a copyright violation without specific facts, and that the Digital Millenium Copyright Act should be the appropriate vehicle to deal with copyright issues, not the arbitrary judgment of any Wikipedian. Tvccs respects copyright and has specifically, as only one example, not added otherwise available images to Wikipedia unless their fair use status is clear, and personally endeavors to obtain the proper clearances when practical and necessary. Tvccs has specifically not abused Fair Use on Wikipedia.
- The continued use of Fair Use images when quality free images are not available of living persons. A small group of persons is determined to remove all Fair Use images of living persons from Wikipedia, destroying the work of hundreds and thousands of Wikipedia contributors in a single-minded quest to make Wikipedia only use free images for living persons. Tvccs believes this approach is backwards, short-sighted, and asinine, and does almost nothing to improve Wikipedia while alienating many contributors and removing quality content. Tvccs has begun to speak publicly both on and beyond Wikipedia about this and related subjects reflecting both the good and in some cases god-awful aspects of Wikipedia editing.
[edit] Interesting Reading
Why Wikipedia isn't like Linux
[edit] Article Contributions & Authoring** (Partial List)
Art & Related
Automobile & Related
Government & Related
Media & Related
Music & Related
- The Nice (edits, minor additions, links, images)
Various others...
