User:Smile Lee/Notability (specific)

This is a collection of some of my views on inclusion in Wikipedia, compiled & modified from what I've said here in various places. It is not policy, and is under construction. You may help bring it to realization.

Notability (specific) are guidelines focusing on the notability of subjects and topics from (1) a particular area, study, or field, and/or (2) regions without world cities. Articles and Wikiprojects that fit within these two qualifications are still expected to follow General notability guideline and any other related subject-specific guidelines. However, in order for Wikipedia's coverage to continue to grow qualifications for locally, or specialty, notable subjects must be addressed. This must also be done without sacrificing Why we have these requirements, What Wikipedia is not, or allow Wikipedia to fall into self-promotion and indiscriminate publicity. It serves as both, a compilation of guidelines to clarify notability on these particular subjects, as well as clarification on those notability guidelines in particular.

Particular

edit
Quoted from WP:ITSLOCAL.

Stating an article should be deleted because you and most of the world do not know about it is akin to the I've never heard of it argument. Many subjects are esoteric, meaning that only a small crowd is familiar with them. For example, few people are aware or interested in some obscure forms of living things, space bodies, or scientific concepts, and few people will ever know about them in the first place in order to even desire to read about them. Yet there is sourced information about them, so they qualify to be included.

The same is true about subjects only of interest to those in a single city, town, or region. People who live outside the area who have never visited there or done any research on the area will obviously be unlikely to have ever heard of them. But Wikipedia is not limited to subjects that everyone in the world knows or will have a good chance of knowing. Being a global encyclopedia, Wikipedia can cover a wide range of topics, many of them pertaining to the culture of a single country, language, or an ethnic group living in one part of the world. The people living in a single city or town and everything they have built around them are likewise a culture and society of their own.

Area

edit
For subjects from a particular area it is recommended that you read, Wikipedia:Places of local interest.

As for notability. Check local WikiProjects to look for a list of potential reliable sources in the area. Also, don't confuse the need for reliable sources and significant coverage, as they are each completely different things. The subject more than likely meets the general notability guideline, if the subject or topic is mentioned in more than one reliable source, such as significant coverage in multiple local works or a single nationally/internationally published work (like multiple pages, interviews, or other coverage - even in a travel guide, a book, or blog).

Another question is where to draw the line on a subject as being "local". Local could mean limited to a city or town. But others may view a state, province, or other similar region as being local. And such divisions vary in size throughout the world. And though the boundaries of a jurisdiction are legally defined, determining a distance from that location in which coverage would be non-local is not possible.

Unless the article absolutely fails notability, then consider placing the following templates on the article: {{local}} {{globalize}}. Instead of going through the deletion process,and if you have decided to proceed with the deletion process be sure to acknowledge that the subject might be notable within a certain region of .

Study

edit
For subjects from a particular of study, like subjects typically found in scientific journals.

Field

edit
For subjects from a particular field, like restaurants, publishers, and niche.

For some fields, the notability guidelines need to be applied conservatively. This is the case with publishers and niche markets, most sources that indicate notability are unlikely to give publicity to competing publications of any type. A great example would be with major newspapers being unlikely to cover competing magazines, blogs, or websites.

Regions without world cities

edit
For subjects from a region without world cities, for examples; from the middle of Sub-Saharan Africa (the middle of the tropical savannas and the tropical rainforests) to isolated regions like New Mexico and Greenland.