Talk:Barbara York Main

Recent additions

Hi Leanda Denise Mason, some of the material you added to the article is interesting, but there are problems with it too. First, the list of publications is too long. And for the text itself, we need reliable sources, including independent ones. That's mostly why you're being reverted. Also, the tone would have to be more encyclopaedic/disinterested. SarahSV ^(talk) 02:06, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

(copied from SV talk) Perhaps I am unaware of some of the finer guidelines of Wikipedia but I do not see how the content is questionable. The biography has been referenced as source material and her interview. If it needs to be written in a very dry tone this can be done, but I am not sure how this enhances credibility. The reason I have listed her publications is because she is too old to have a google scholar account (or similar) and as this is the primary source for scientific researchers to find others work, I am worried that they will be otherwise inaccessible. Please outline any further issues so that I can address them.

Many thanks Leanda Denise Mason (talk) 05:26, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

Hi Leanda, I've added some text and citations to the article so that you can see how they're written. (We have citation templates you can use too, and I can show you how to find them if you would like that.) The writing needs to be encyclopaedic in tone, and everything needs a citation to a reliable source. You can see our sourcing guideline at WP:RS. There is an online list of Main's publications until 1993 here. I've added three books that I can find; if there are others, you can add those. As for the papers, perhaps you could choose a selection of the most interesting or the most cited, from the earliest to the most recent. SarahSV ^(talk) 16:33, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

I restored some of your additions to a Career section, copy-edited it a little, then found it had been copied from here. I've therefore made it invisible until it can be rewritten. Sources have to be summarized in our own words; otherwise they're copyright violations. SarahSV ^(talk) 18:06, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

Photograph

The other issue is that the photograph will have to be released under a free licence (such as a Creative Commons Attribution licence) by the photographer, Grant Wardell-Johnson. If he is willing to do this, I can write up more about what he should do. SarahSV ^(talk) 16:41, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

Thanks SlimVirgin for your help. Barbara's wiki page looks great! Does it require further editing to avoid plagiarism? New to wiki editing - I hope this is the correct way to respond - apologies if not. Grant is willing to do release the photo, please let me know what he needs to do. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Leanda Denise Mason (talk • contribs) 06:56, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

Hi Leanda, I'm glad you like the article. The text copyright problem is sorted out; I began a rewrite of the section using other sources.

I wanted to ask Barbara a couple of things; if you know her, would you pass these questions on? First, when writing her surname, does she prefer Main or York Main? Most sources use Main, but Tony Hughes-d'Aeth, who has written about her in depth, uses York Main. Second, does she remember who took the photograph of her in Dunedin in 1951 on page ix of Ernest P. Hodgkin's article? I would like to use it in the article, in addition to the one you uploaded, but I would need to know who owns the copyright.

As for Grant Wardell-Johnson's photograph, he should email permissions-commonswikimedia.org and copy the letter sample in the box at Wikipedia:Declaration of consent for all enquiries, beginning "I hereby affirm that I, Grant Wardell-Johnson, am the creator and/or sole owner of the exclusive copyright of <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prof._Barbara_York_Main_at_North_Bungulla_Reserve,_Western_Australia.png>, and have legal authority", etc, then copy the rest of the letter down to "may or may not be kept permanently on a Wikimedia project".

The easiest thing would be if he were to use the licence you chose, so the letter should say: "I agree to publish the above-mentioned content under the free license: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International." SarahSV ^(talk) 16:32, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

Excellent - thank you!

I do know Barbara, and well enough to know she prefers 'York Main' *always*, but she would not be able to answer your question about who took the Dunedin photo - her health is poor and she is easily confused. It is a shame the photos were not referenced by Ernest P. Hodgkin. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Leanda Denise Mason (talk • contribs)

Leanda, thanks. Please remember to ask Grant Wardell-Johnson to send the release to permissions-commonswikimedia.org. The photograph is likely to be deleted otherwise. SarahSV ^(talk) 22:47, 13 August 2018 (UTC)

I have asked Grant but he might not get to it for a little while. I've also made a small change based on what Barbara's daughters have told me - apparently they bought the Claremont house in 1960 and bought a house in Torbay (Near Albany, Western Australia) in 1972. Many thanks