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The National Map Corps & Find a Grave cemetery listings
The National Map Corps, part of the United States Geological Survey, has an Authoritative Sources list, which includes cemeteries posted by Find a Grave. "These [cemetery listings] are authoritative if the entry has photos and the number of interments/burials recorded." With an authoritative, official US government source giving its blessing to Find a Grave cemetery listings it is time to revise this listing with regard to cemeteries. Find a Grave information, about cemeteries, should be allowed both as a Reliable Source and External Link. Comments? – S. Rich (talk) 19:33, 19 December 2023 (UTC)
I think your comment is posted in the wrong location. But for what it is worth, this is not an offical USGS publication as it is not identified or numbered as such. The National Maps Corps includes the work of many volunteers, so this is probably something of that ilk. Even if it were an official document, it is not saying that every entry in Find A Grave is reliable, nor are they endorsing other content such as biographical sketches and family links. They are only noting that burials connected to a cemetery survey and a photo are reliable. I think this is too nuanced to become a Wikipedia source. However, I endorse FAG for an external link. Rublamb (talk) 20:36, 19 December 2023 (UTC)
The USGS url is https://navigator.er.usgs.gov/, which makes it a very official document. And the NMC (National Map Corps) only wants information about structures. Accordingly, if a FaG cemetery listing has photos and numbers the NMC can use the FaG listing to put the cemetery on the big map. FaG information about "numbers of burials" is NMC guidance to the volunteers who are looking to use FaG as a reliable source. That way the "Satchmo Family Cemetery", with only a few burials, does not get listed on the National Map. Your concern about nuance is appreciated! I hope we can cleanup this Perennial websites list and clarify two points: 1. FaG cemetery listings are different than individual burial listings. 2. Such cemetery listings are acceptable in WP as RS and EL, provided they add noteworthy information. – S. Rich (talk) 23:12, 19 December 2023 (UTC)
@Srich32977: The document may be shared through the USGS website, but it is not an official document. It does not even have the USGS or NMC name on it! I used to work at a depository library for the USGS. Their official publications are always identified with the USGS name and usually have a unique number. Another missing piece here is that these cemeteries are not being added to a map by just using Find A Grave or because an NMC volunteer finds it through one of these sources. This is a source of information that will then be fact-checked by staff with aerial photography, satellite imagery, or on-site visits before becoming a permanent change to a map. Rublamb (talk) 00:04, 20 December 2023 (UTC)
@Rublamb: IMO the "official-ness" of the criteria provided is not the issue. (Are we talking about how the USGS uses FaG info or about how WP uses it?) Since we see that the NMC accepts FaG as a source for cemetery information I think we should expand/allow our WP-usage of FaG cemeteries. E.g., we allow FaG-cemetery listings as stepping stones to verify and develop the listings of cemeteries on Wikipedia. (After all, this is what TNM does.) As it stands now this WP:ELP listing improperly rejects mention of any and all FaG-cemetery urls. – S. Rich (talk) 01:16, 20 December 2023 (UTC)
