Talk:Lydia Thompson

Misuse of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

I know that it is quoted as a source but much of the text of this article is lifted word for word from the entry in the ODNB even down to the use of accented letters. Whilst it is expected that articles should have sources they shouldn't plagiarise the text except for quotes. The article really needs to be rewritten to remove this. For example (bold text shows the differences):

ONDB	Article
In 1852 Lydia made her début in the ballet at Her Majesty's Theatre. The following Christmas (1853) she was engaged to play Little Silverhair at the Haymarket in the pantomime Harlequin and the Three Bears, or, Little Silverhair and the Fairies. In 1854 she danced for sixty nights at the same theatre in Planché's Easter extravaganza Mr Buckstone's Voyage Round the Globe, and caused a sensation on 18 October at the St James's in the burlesque The Spanish Dancers, in which she mimicked the celebrated Spanish dancer Señora Perea Nana.	In 1852 she made her début in the corps de ballet at Her Majesty's Theatre. By the following year she was playing a solo role, Little Silverhair, in the pantomime Harlequin and the Three Bears, or, Little Silverhair and the Fairies. at the Haymarket Theatre. In 1854 she danced for sixty nights at the old Globe Theatre in Blackfriars Road, in James Planché's extravaganza, Mr Buckstone's Voyage Round the Globe. She came to wider public attention in October of that year at the St James's Theatre in Thomas Selby's burletta The Spanish Dancers, in which she impersonated the celebrated Spanish dancer Señora Perea Nena.
Following the death of her husband, on 1 February 1886 at Cannes, Lydia Thompson once more departed for New York, where she was seen in the winter seasons of 1888–9 and 1891. In 1887 she opened the Strand Theatre, under her own management, with The Sultan of Mocha. Her vivacity showed signs of decay, though she continued to perform. Her final American performance came in 1894 when she played the supporting role in The Crust of Society. Her London benefit night (May 1899 at the Lyceum) saw her perform in The Wedding March. Thompson suffered ill health in the next few years but returned to the stage at the Imperial in December 1904, as the duchess of Albuquerque in John Davidson's adaptation of A Queen's Romance. She died on 17 November 1908, at 48 Westminster Mansions, London, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery. Her daughter, Mrs L. D. Woodthorpe, was also an actress, known professionally as Zeffie Tilbury (1862–1950).	Following the death of her husband in 1886, Thompson once more departed for New York and also returned there in the winter seasons of 1888 and 1891. In 1887 she opened at the Royal Strand Theatre, London, under her own management, in Alfred Cellier's comic opera, The Sultan of Mocha. She next she starred in the French vaudeville-opérette Babette (1888, Antonio), but her voice was judged inadequate.[1] After this, her career began to decline. Her last American performances were in 1894 in a supporting role in The Crust of Society. Back in London, George Edwardes cast her briefly in the Edwardian musical comedy An Artist's Model (1895), but by 1899, she had depleted her funds. A London benefit night was held for her in May 1899 at the Lyceum Theatre, when she performed in The Wedding March by W. S. Gilbert. Her final performances were in 1904, as the Duchesse du Albuquerque in A Queen's Romance. Thompson died, aged 70, in London, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery. Her daughter, Mrs L. D. Woodthorpe (1862–1950), was also an actress, known professionally as Zeffie Tilbury.

--DavidCane (talk) 21:47, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

I believe that I have now re-written the DNB info to avoid any copyright issues. Please take a look and confirm or advise. Best regards, -- Ssilvers (talk) 23:41, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Only an administrator should remove the copyvio tag. I have moved your proposed changes to the sub-page Talk:Lydia Thompson/Temp in accordance with procedure, where they can be assessed to see if the text is now free of violations. I will have a look myself latter today.--DavidCane (talk) 00:25, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

OK, thanks. -- Ssilvers (talk) 00:54, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Hi folks, I'm having trouble here because I can't access the NDB article. Checking back through the history, it would seem that the article is the result of heteroglossia - so, unlikely to be a direct copy of the NDB article. The story of a life is organised chronologically; and therefore likely to share places and dates between the texts. There is also the issue of the obituaries (out of copyright) which could legitimately be the basis for both texts.

Normally I'd ask for structural changes which would encourage more diversity in the linking words between the phrases. This is a bit difficult to do in an article that is of necessity organised chronologically. Could I ask David to do his textual comparison again, and I'll make a final determination tomorrow - or, later tonight. I think David would also be looking here for less of a dependence on references from the NDB article - and the article would certainly benefit from a wider range of sources.

If we can agree that this sufficiently diverges from the NDB source, then I will restore the temporary version over the current version. I know the history of changes is lost - but most importantly, the version that raised the copyright issue should not appear in the history. Should someone else make a determination in the meantime, then I will gladly restore the temp version to someone's own user space for further work. HTH Kbthompson (talk) 18:13, 17 September 2008 (UTC) (no relation)

Sorry, I should have mentioned that you need to subscribe to the ODNB, although if you've got a library card you can usually use that to log-on. The recent changes do seem to have moved the article sufficiently away from the source text. --DavidCane (talk) 22:12, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that, it's always a difficult call - particularly when we demand that articles be reliably sourced and then berate the authors for following what would be the traditional schema of any biography. It is, David, as you say, better to be safe than sorry. I know I've been caught out like that. Kbthompson (talk) 23:26, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

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