Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Schniedewind

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 keep. John254 01:43, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] William Schniedewind

William Schniedewind (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) – (View log)

Although it might have the potential to meed WP:NN, if only because of the book he wrote, it does not currently do so. The article is written very much like an advertisement or a curriculum vitae, with very little encyclopedic material. I  ^{(said) (did)} 04:37, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Weak Keep - I agree with the comments above, but I think he's a notable enough author to be listed. Barely. Peter Ballard 04:56, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Keep! - I wrote Bill's entry. My concern is with standards. We complain about how dumb our world is becoming, but then we allow Wiki articles for Anna Nicole Smith and Paris Hilton, but then nominate scholars for deletion. It's no wonder the academic community avoids wikipedia and doesn't take it seriously. For some reason, 'notability' is equated with "notoriety", or reality tv, or breast size, and not with reputable scholars, who are making contributions. What's next? Do we nominate for deletion David Noel Freedman? Frank Moore Cross?? Norman Golb? They all have wiki pages and what some might call a CV on their pages.

It begs the question: are scholars, especially published ones in or out? Or do they have to get a DUI or appear on reality TV to qualify on Wikipedia? YOU EDITORS help decide how seriously wikipedia is taken. IsraelXKV8R 05:13, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Your view of notability might be flawed. I would suggest you read WP:NN. Notability is not related to worth, but to the criteria outlined on that page. Also, in realtion to your op-ed piece, if you added citations such as those, then the article would meet guidelines. I  ^{(said) (did)} 05:17, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

• Comment. "The academic community avoids Wikipedia and doesn't take it seriously"? Well, I'm an academic and I do take Wikipedia seriously. I find it hard to be offended by the proliferation of articles on Paris Hilton, sports, pop culture, video games and other things I consider garbage. Why? Because I don't read them and nobody shoves those articles in my face. As a linguist, I have found more interesting material on Wikipedia than I ever would have expected. Now as for biographies of prominent scientists, I'll vote keep on this one. However, I feel less than enthusiastic about researchers who write about themselves or their colleagues. Not only is this strongly discouraged (and with good reason) by Wikipedia:Autobiography, it smacks of that old scourge of scientific research, vanity. (Please don't take this personally, this is a general remark). I say if you're a renowned expert, someone is bound to write an article about you sooner or later. What's the hurry? --Targeman 13:56, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

• For the Record Here are some citations regarding Dr. Schniedewind. I'll limit the list to the past 3 weeks:

Archaeologica News (mp3 podcast)
Dr. Jim West's Blog (Jim West's Blog, and My Response)
Warriors May Have Occupied Dead Sea Scrolls Site (Fox News)
Dead Sea Scrolls site once a fortress? (MSNBC)
Warriors Once Occupied Dead Sea Scrolls Site (Live Science)
Trailer #1 for 'Ancient Qumran: A Virtual Reality Tour' (You Tube)
Trailer #2 for 'Ancient Qumran: A Virtual Reality Tour' (You Tube)
The sweep of history (San Diego Union Tribune)
Largest, most comprehensive exhibit of Dead Sea Scrolls opens in San Diego (Ventura County Star)
Virtual Qumran Sheds New Light On Dead Sea Scrolls Discovery Site (CCNews)
Dead Sea Scrolls show said to be largest ever (LA Times)
Ancient Qumran comes alive (UCLA Magazine)
Virtual Qumran Sheds New Light on Dead Sea Scrolls Discovery Site (UCLA News)
Qumran archaeological ruins studied (Monsters and Critics)
Virtual Qumran sheds new light on Dead Sea scrolls discovery site (YubaNet.com)
Virtual Qumran Sheds New Light On Dead Sea Scrolls Discovery Site (Science Daily)
3-D Computer Model Sheds Light on Dead Sea Scrolls Site (Dakota Voice)
Virtual Qumran Sheds New Light On Dead Sea Scrolls Discovery Site (PhysOrg.com)
Virtual Qumran sheds new light on Dead Sea scrolls discovery site (Huliq.com)
Armchair archeologists can explore Qumran virtually (JewishJournal.com)
Virtual Qumran Sheds New Light on Dead Sea Scrolls Discovery Site (AScribe)

• Rewrite If this was wikified, some third party citations added, this should be kept. I will have a look at this if I can today. Nicko (Talk•Contribs) 06:13, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

• Comment I've since wikified this article and removed the cv information to talk. I don't have time to do more at the moment. If more third party sources could be found for WP:V, there appears to be some links to articles in the cv which might be useful to flesh this out more. Nicko (Talk•Contribs) 07:00, 18 July 2007 (UTC) (Previously listed under wrong AfD nomination. My bad Nicko (Talk•Contribs) 12:20, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

• Keep but cleanup. The subject is the occupant of a named and endowed professorial chair at a major university, and while WP:PROF is only a proposed guideline, such individuals have been kept in the past. --Dhartung | Talk 06:21, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

• Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletions. —Espresso Addict 06:44, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
• Keep. Named chair at major university, has published several books with high-profile publishers. Espresso Addict 08:12, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
• Keep Sources satisfy WP:N and WP:A . Article editing can address concerns of it reading like a vita. Edison 15:15, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
• Keep Kershaw Chair of Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Professor of Biblical Studies and Northwest Semitic Languages at UCLA's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. That is, the highest position in n eminent department in one of the world's major research universities. That's notability ads certified by his colleagues. The main thing wrong with the article is that his work is not adequately discussed, nor the reviews of his publications presented.

as for researchers who write about themselves and their colleagues, for every one of them who is over-expansive and given to self-praise, there seem to be two who do an inadequately enthusiastic job, under the mistaken assumption that WP people will read the article and recognize the quality implied by the positions. The problems of COI run both ways. Curiously, it seems similar with eminent businesspeople and those in the computer industry--fields where we generally dont have as much of a public record to judge. DGG (talk) 22:38, 18 July 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.