Essentially, there are three main types of reference:
- Unreliable sources: these are things like blogs, forums, Facebook, IMDb, etc., that are either user-generated or of questionable reliability. If some guy with an opinion writes something on the internet, it's generally not acceptable.
- PRIMARY sources: these are sources that are directly connected to the subject. Often this is the subject's own website, but interviews also fall into this category. They are discouraged, mainly because it is the subject talking about themselves and they could be lying (so it's easier to just not use the information).
- Independent reliable sources. These are articles from newspapers, magazines, and reputable websites (such as Mixmag). These references are what Wikipedia is built on - good sources of information and a place where someone can potentially learn more about a subject. There are two types of reliable source
- Name drops/passing mentions: these are sources that do little more than mention the subject or give their name in a list (such as the Top 100 Widget Makers, or saying "Company X, run by it's CEO Joe Bloggs"). Since they are reliable sources, they can be used to verify the facts on the page, but don't actually demonstrate notability.
- In-depth sources: references that talk about the subject from a reliable source show that someone has "taken note" of the subject. If there is no in-depth coverage of a subject, they fail the Golden Rule and generally are not given a Wikipedia entry.