User talk:Lostorgans

Response

Just so you know, it is general practice to put new talk sections at the bottom of the talk page.

You are quite correct that offline sources are acceptable in Wikipedia, but they must be published so that others can examine them, and must be of a type that is considered reliable. For living people, however, lack of any Google hits is a pretty good indication that they are not particularly notable, and only notable people should be included in a personalities section. This presumption has to be overcome by evidence. As for personal knowledge, that is termed original research and is not permitted in Wikipedia precisely because others have no way of checking what you or I carry in our heads. I can claim that I have lived in the area five times as long as you, and have firsthand knowledge that contradicts your edits. How would Wikipedia ever resolve such an argument?

As made clear under Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden of evidence, the burden lies with the person wishing to add or keep a fact to show that it has been published in a reliable source. This is especially so with claims about living people. If no source is forthcoming after a reasonable interval, the edit may be removed. In the particular case, unless and until someone can point to a reliable, published, source saying that (1) Patrick Voytko is nationally noteworthy within the straight-edge movement and (2) that same Patrick Voytko resides in Doylestown, that claim does not belong in the article. Robert A.West (Talk) 17:27, 23 January 2007 (UTC)