Talk:Stephen Dixon (author)

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Hello, good work on Stephen Dixon, and thanks for the contribution. However, you did not any references to the article. Keeping Wikipedia accurate and verifiable is very important, and as you might be aware there is currently a push to encourage editors to cite the sources they used when adding content. From what websites, books, or other places did you learn the information that you added to Stephen Dixon? Would it be possible for you to mention them in the article? You can simply add links, or see WP:CITET if you wish to review some of the different citation methods. Thanks! — BRIAN0918 • 2005-12-4 21:18

Hi, and thanks for your message. Generally, I can understand what you say about citing sources, but in this particular case having to state where I got the information from borders on the ridiculous. Just have a look at the stub: All it contains is a list of titles, information which I gathered from various online bookshops. Would you like me to quote amazon, Powell's, or Barnes & Noble? All the best, <K F> 21:27, 4 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

All you would have to do is create a "References" section and list all the links you used in the creation of that article. -- BRIAN0918 21:29, 4 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, I'll try again: There is nothing to refer to so what would be the point of having a section entitled ==References==? You don't seriously expect me to cite http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Stephen%20Dixon&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/103-3540855-4082202 as a source? <K F> 21:35, 4 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

You can call it a "sources" section. The point is only to cite where your information came from. -- BRIAN0918 21:38, 4 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

In no academic institution anywhere in the world are faculty or students required to provide a source for a book list. A list of publications is public knowledge. Let's assume I had all of Dixon's books at home. What would be the source then? Am I supposed to write "my bookshelf" and add a photo of it? <K F> 21:47, 4 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

We are not an academic institution. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that anyone can edit, or vandalize, if they choose. This is why sources are important, to be able to verify the content on pages. You're making this out to be much too big of a deal. -- BRIAN0918 22:51, 4 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

See also Wikipedia_talk:Cite_sources#Enormous_overkill.