Slashdot Mirror
Saving Geek Lore and Other Wikipedia Castoffs
Ian Lamont notes an Industry Standard feature on Deletionpedia — a collection of 63,559 deleted Wikipedia pages that range from "vanity entries" or obscure points of reference to heavily edited topics that Wikipedia editors eventually deemed fan fiction, inadequately sourced, or otherwise lacking. Looking through the collection of removed articles, it's apparent that entertaining minutiae are often the target of Wikipedia editors: "Geek lore seems to be a particular target for deletion, with the deleted page of the month a comprehensive guide to 'Weapons of the Imperium (Warhammer 40,000)'. Deletionpedia provides links back to the Wikipedia deletion discussions, which are a lesson in magnification of minutiae; the Warhammer page was removed due to philosophical disagreements over what can be considered credible source material, while a page listing every chalkboard gag in The Simpsons opening credits spent 691 days on the site before being deleted as 'fancruft.'" Note that while Deletionpedia uses MediaWiki, it doesn't have wiki functionality — readers can't alter or update archived entries.
The problem is, if you DO allow it the door will be opened for every trivial matter you can think of.
I for one, welcome an article about my daily morning routine.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
Amazingly fast to be Slashdotted after only one comment is even posted here.
There are three kinds of slashdotters: those who can count, and those who can't.
They're about to hit 65536 articles.
[[citation needed]]
I'll start an list article for "Every trivial matter you can think of".
UTF-8: There and Back Again