User talk:Kathleen Brady
Welcome
[edit]Welcome!
Hello, Kathleen Brady, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:
- The five pillars of Wikipedia
- Tutorial
- How to edit a page and How to develop articles
- How to create your first article (using the Article Wizard if you wish)
- Manual of Style
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your messages on discussion pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically insert your username and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question on this page and then place {{help me}} before the question. Again, welcome!
RJFJR (talk) 18:36, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
Citing your own work
[edit]Hi! As I hope you know, Wikipedia welcomes and values expert editors, which you certainly seem to be. Thank you for contributing here. However, I should perhaps warn you that adding references to your own work may not always be the best idea; you might find it preferable to suggest such additions on the talk page of the relevant article, making clear when you do so that you are the author. This is a bit of a grey area, but there's a little guidance at WP:SELFCITING, in case that's of any help. Wikipedians tend to be a bit allergic to anything that looks like promotional editing, and thus to forget that citing oneself is perfectly normal and acceptable in academia. Regards, Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 19:46, 17 August 2015 (UTC)
- I've stepped in this one myself, although my area of expertise is far different. Wikipedia is so very vulnerable to self-promotion and spamming, in this era when "personal branding" and the antics of would-be "influencers" are looked upon as normal behavior rather than disgusting and shameful self-exposure, that our editors tend to be very, very harsh and suspicious about anything which smacks of "raising one's online profile." --Orange Mike | Talk 16:51, 17 November 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you for understanding, OrangeMike. I am going to begin to clear up what I added right now by pointing them on the appropriate pages. The Talk video has been very helpful. As you can tell, I did not understand the software at all.In fact, I almost misused the tildes and had to edit this message after I posted it. None of my friends try to edit Wiki, which is probably a good thing. (talk) 18:11, 17 November 2021 (UTC)Kathleen Brady
- Although I am an acknowledged expert on many topics surrounding my biographies of Ida Tarbell and Lucille Ball, and Kirkus Reviews described my well-researched and annotated dual biography of Francis and Clare of Assisi as “lucidly written, a scrupulously thorough account,” my book is self-published. I want to double-check this: it seems by Wiki standards, I should remove my book from all the pages where I added it. Some of those pages did need corrections and I could cite other authors in making them. Shall I remove my book as a reference and use other authors as sources of the corrections I make? Thanks Kathleen Brady 18:31, 17 November 2021 (UTC)
- Sadly, anything you had to self-publish is likely not to be regarded as a reliable source, even if cited by another editor than yourself. We have a very strong resistance to anything which has not gone through peer review and/or the editorial process of reputable publishing houses. Corrections cited to other works which do not have that problem are most definitely welcomed. Contrary to legend, we do not disdain subject matter expertise here, academic or otherwise: but we do not defer to it; our policies on citation and sourcing are often a cultural shock to such experts, who may not be used to being confronted with a template nicknamed "says who?". --Orange Mike | Talk 19:06, 17 November 2021 (UTC)
- I am going to remove all the references I inserted by the end of the day. Thank you.Kathleen Brady (talk) 12:47, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- There is no prohibition to referencing self-published works in Wikipedia if it's done carefully. If you read WP:USESPS, Brady's work would probably not be used as a primary source, but certainly could be referenced in a "Further Reading" section. I write primarily on the Crusades and can tell you that even peer-reviewed books and journal articles by prominent historians contain errors. You also have to look at the author and the work, as many people are writing about things they know nothing about. As Brady is a Fellow of the Society of American Historians, I feel comfortable in using her work in a "Further Reading" capacity and am going to restore the references to her book on St. Francis. Dr. Grampinator (talk) 19:38, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you so much, Dr. Grampinator! I am honored by your support, which has bolstered me in my assertive ways. Would it be proper for me to also add my book and a few corrections to Elias of Cortona and Agnes of Bohemia? The information in the corrections I would make (probably a sentence each) are in my book, where they are backed up by the work of two scholars -- Maria Pia Alberzoni and Joan Mueller -- and are footnoted. I could cite them instead. Again, thank you!Kathleen Brady (talk) 21:24, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- Definitely, cite Alberzoni and Mueller, rather than yourself. Indeed, as a rule of thumb, never reference a citation when you can verify the validity of the source and cite that source material instead. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:27, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- Thanks again, and just to follow up, I decided not to make those corrections because they would disrupt the general tenor of the entries by othersKathleen Brady (talk) 13:07, 20 November 2021 (UTC).
- Definitely, cite Alberzoni and Mueller, rather than yourself. Indeed, as a rule of thumb, never reference a citation when you can verify the validity of the source and cite that source material instead. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:27, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you so much, Dr. Grampinator! I am honored by your support, which has bolstered me in my assertive ways. Would it be proper for me to also add my book and a few corrections to Elias of Cortona and Agnes of Bohemia? The information in the corrections I would make (probably a sentence each) are in my book, where they are backed up by the work of two scholars -- Maria Pia Alberzoni and Joan Mueller -- and are footnoted. I could cite them instead. Again, thank you!Kathleen Brady (talk) 21:24, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- There is no prohibition to referencing self-published works in Wikipedia if it's done carefully. If you read WP:USESPS, Brady's work would probably not be used as a primary source, but certainly could be referenced in a "Further Reading" section. I write primarily on the Crusades and can tell you that even peer-reviewed books and journal articles by prominent historians contain errors. You also have to look at the author and the work, as many people are writing about things they know nothing about. As Brady is a Fellow of the Society of American Historians, I feel comfortable in using her work in a "Further Reading" capacity and am going to restore the references to her book on St. Francis. Dr. Grampinator (talk) 19:38, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- I am going to remove all the references I inserted by the end of the day. Thank you.Kathleen Brady (talk) 12:47, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
- Sadly, anything you had to self-publish is likely not to be regarded as a reliable source, even if cited by another editor than yourself. We have a very strong resistance to anything which has not gone through peer review and/or the editorial process of reputable publishing houses. Corrections cited to other works which do not have that problem are most definitely welcomed. Contrary to legend, we do not disdain subject matter expertise here, academic or otherwise: but we do not defer to it; our policies on citation and sourcing are often a cultural shock to such experts, who may not be used to being confronted with a template nicknamed "says who?". --Orange Mike | Talk 19:06, 17 November 2021 (UTC)
- Although I am an acknowledged expert on many topics surrounding my biographies of Ida Tarbell and Lucille Ball, and Kirkus Reviews described my well-researched and annotated dual biography of Francis and Clare of Assisi as “lucidly written, a scrupulously thorough account,” my book is self-published. I want to double-check this: it seems by Wiki standards, I should remove my book from all the pages where I added it. Some of those pages did need corrections and I could cite other authors in making them. Shall I remove my book as a reference and use other authors as sources of the corrections I make? Thanks Kathleen Brady 18:31, 17 November 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you for understanding, OrangeMike. I am going to begin to clear up what I added right now by pointing them on the appropriate pages. The Talk video has been very helpful. As you can tell, I did not understand the software at all.In fact, I almost misused the tildes and had to edit this message after I posted it. None of my friends try to edit Wiki, which is probably a good thing. (talk) 18:11, 17 November 2021 (UTC)Kathleen Brady
Kathleen: I've added your book to the "Further Reading" sections of Elias of Cortona and Agnes of Bohemia. I'll leave any detailed information in those articles to you. Sorry I took so long to respond. I wasn't aware that you posted a response. If you use USER NAME you can let someone (i.e., USER NAME) know that you want them to read something on your Talk Page. Or you can post it on their Talk Page. Dr. Grampinator (talk) 00:02, 3 December 2021 (UTC)
- Thank you, Dr. Grampinator! I am also going to post this on your talk page.Kathleen Brady (talk) 00:25, 5 December 2021 (UTC)
- Dr. Grampinator: Under the reference for "Agnes of Assisi" I would like to add my book to Further Reading, which would require adding the "Further Reading" section. If I may do that, could you point me to information on how to do this? I have mastered other software, but you can see I am a rookie on Wiki. Thank you. Kathleen Brady
- Thank you, Dr. Grampinator! I am also going to post this on your talk page.Kathleen Brady (talk) 00:25, 5 December 2021 (UTC)