User talk:Mike Christie/Archive09

Peer review of Wade's Causeway

Hello. I have submitted the article Wade's Causeway for peer review today. I have taken this article from stub and improved it and recently got it through GA class review. I want to take it ultimately through A and FA class but I don't think its quite there yet. Specifically, the GA class review obsessed over article structure and copyediting etc, and really did very little to question the accuracy and neutrality of my presentation of the topic. Specifically, I am not a historian or archaeologist, I've never even studied history or etymology or any of the aspects needed for this article. Whilst I have done my best to understand and reflect the sources used, I may have simply misunderstood them or made some howlers. I believe someone more familiar with mythology, history or archaeology should peer review the article and review it in this light. I have contacted you since you are listed on the volunteers page of the peer review wikipage as the person most closely interested or experienced in this area. I have not contacted any other wikipedia editors, so I am not spamming. Please let me know if you would be interested in reviewing this article and whether you believe that you have the necessary knowledge to review it critically. Many thanks - PocklingtonDan (talk) 21:22, 8 November 2013 (UTC)

I would love to review this. I've put it on my watchlist and will see what I can do. Unfortunately I'm much busier than usual in real life and I can't promise anything at all, but I'm interested in the subject and would enjoy going through the article, so I'll try. Like you, I've never studied any of the relevant areas; I've written articles on similar topics on Wikipedia but don't have any training in these areas. If I get to it, it is likely to be over the Christmas break; it might be earlier but that's going to depend on other demands on my time. Thanks for letting me know about it -- at a quick glance it looks impressively detailed. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:32, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply, Mike. I find the causeway really compelling for some reason, which is why I tried to do as much digging on the reports of the causeway as I could. I have an appointment with the Yorkshire Archaeological Society booked to try and get access to some of their earlier archive material, which should be really useful, but I think I've got most of the information out there that has been published widely. It would be great if you do get some time to review it at some point, but I do appreciate that people have real lives outside of wikipedia too ;-) Many thanks - PocklingtonDan (talk) 17:56, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

Random question

So I originally asked this question of Ealdgyth and she sent me to you...: Should Cuthwulf of Wessex and Cutha Cathwulf be merged? They both say they are the father of Ceolwald of Wessex, and the family tree is generally the same, but the date of birth is off... Ealdgyth said that according to the sources, neither of the articles are accurate, as the historians aren't sure if Cutha/Cuthwulf were one person, two people, or even three people (see her source comments on her talk page). Any thoughts on a merge or other actions? Dana boomer (talk) 14:35, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

Ealdgyth is right that both pages are too confident. Frankly I don't think either of them deserves a page at all; not only was neither of them king, but there is nothing really known about them except their presence in some genealogies. You could try AfD, but I suspect it would fail, having seen similar discussions in the past. A merge and removal of all material that doesn't talk directly about the subject of the article would be good, though, since none is sourced directly. I can't find my copy of Kirby at the moment but when I do I'll try to remember to look at the article again. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:34, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Advice Needed

I submitted my final Wikipedia entry for Education Program:Rice University/Poverty, Justice, Human Capabilities, Section 2 (Fall 2013). last night. This morning, I received an email telling me that my article (I am not sure which one, I was unable to find the original post) had been mentioned on the Wikipedia Educational Board as an example of inappropriate essay-type material. I did try to eliminate essay-type material from my contributions to the articles I worked on, and none of my peer reviewers mentioned anything about it. The articles I contributed to are the "Cholera" article and the "Zimbabwean cholera outbreak" article. I added a new section called "The Influence of Political Systems" on the Cholera article, which is where I think the problem is. Would you be able to advise me on how to revise this section to eliminate any issues?

Thank you for your help.

Kimmyfromtexas (talk) 14:32, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

I'll take a look in a moment. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:46, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Hi, Mike and Kimmyfromtexas ... coincidentally, I was just looking at cholera, and what we have is:

1. Kimmyfromtexas removed the appropriate for WP:MEDMOS#Sections "Society and culture" section, and
2. replaced it with a section that is actually text that belongs in numerous other sections, and
3. added material to the cholera articles the belongs in the Zimababwe cholera article.

Independently I haven't yet even looked at the Zimbabwe article to see if it is appropriate or an essay.

All of the new text needs to be vetted for WP:MEDRS (I hope it has PMIDs), and whatever portions of it are salvabeable needs to be moved to the correct sections.

Again, this appears to be editing of medical articles by a class that has never been informed of MEDMOS or MEDRS, and since it is easier for the prof to grade material put into one section, the creation of one non-MEDMOS section for the addition of new content. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:50, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Mike, I expanded at Talk:Cholera, and pinged WT:MED to let them know cleanup will be needed. Perhaps followup on the article talk page is better. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 15:10, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

RFA

Mike, my dh has an ear infection, so we aren't traveling for the holiday after all. I am scrambling to get through my list and catch up. And on my list is ...

Isn't it time for you to be an admin? SandyGeorgia (Talk) 01:56, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

Well, thanks for the offer, but I don't think it'll ever happen. If someone were to wave a wand and make me an admin, I wouldn't object, but I almost never need the tools, and rarely need to go looking for an admin, so I don't think there's much value in going to RfA. I appreciate the compliment, though! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:14, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

Well, in your dealings with instructors outside of Wikipedia (since they really don't engage Wikipedia and aren't "Wikipedians"), you will probably find that they have the misunderstanding that there is some kind of hierarchy in here, and that by being an admin, you may have more credibility with them. Just sayin' :) SandyGeorgia (Talk) 14:52, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

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The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs) 16:48, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

ENB

Hey, Mike, thanks for you being you. I unwatched, it's just too insulting, infuriating, time-consuming and I don't see anything improving, and reading there is just making me madder, madder and madder. Best, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 06:12, 22 November 2013 (UTC)

And thank you, for the kind words. I think you're wise to pull back if you're burned out, but I hope you can find time to peek in there occasionally and give your opinion. I'm still hopeful we can find a way to fix the problems that are driving you crazy. All the best. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:52, 23 November 2013 (UTC)

I'm out of there, too. This was the last straw. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 15:50, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Jon, please explain, if you have the patience. That looks to me like a good faith attempt to reword Jami's user page to be more inline with the views I was outlining on the ENB. And see my last post to the ENB -- I'm starting to wonder if we have some bizarre definitional mismatch going on here. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:44, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

And I suggest it should be in line with the entire history of discussions around the education program, that led to the working group and upon which basis the WEF was awarded an WMF grant. You can't simply, Humpty-Dumpty like, choose at this late stage, precisely the week after the WMF shrugged off its responsibilities, that you are now going to shrug off those responsibilities in turn.

Or put it this way: I understand that you want to redefine the language you have been given. But I don't see that flying. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 23:18, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

JB, talk page troll here (to use language that makes me talk like a Wikipedian). Emphatically, it is irrelevant what language was used in the travels from the WMF to the WEF to where we are today. Do you really believe the the WMF wouldn't have granted the WEF a grant if "run the EP" wasn't the phraseology used? We ALL need to focus on the future--the WMF, the WEF and the WP Community--What do we want this thing to be in the future? Wayne Gretsky once said: Skate to Where The Puck is going to be, not where it is! --Mike Cline (talk) 01:19, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

Jon, sorry about the delay in replying; my work has been busy. I don't think that we've shrugged anything off, and I'm more convinced than ever that we have a language issue here. I was trying to think of something that would make your comments make sense to me, and came up with the campus ambassadors as an example. The campus ambassador role is one that was selected by the WMF EP staff; there was no on-wiki election of campus ambassadors, and sometimes not much on-wiki visibility. That's an organizational function ("running" the EP) that the WMF took on. I see the WEF continuing that function -- it's essentially an external role, and the WMF was recruiting volunteers for the role. The WEF will do the same, until someone comes up with a better idea. I wouldn't call that "running the EP", but perhaps that's what you meant. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:24, 27 November 2013 (UTC)

Mike, this is pure sophistry. The WMF was (and strangely, still is) happy to say they ran the Education Program. It's bizarre that the first thing you should try to do is (at the very best) to come up with a completely different definition of what's meant by the phrase "Education Program." --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 04:05, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

All right, all right-- you were right and I was wrong :) Diff by diff, I see the problems were mostly in the cholera article before student editing. On the other hand, the problems at Zimbabwean cholera outbreak were introduced by the student, who in all fairness, may have been emulating what she saw in the cholera article. Too much going on at once ... everything now summarized, I think, on the ENI post. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 19:26, 30 November 2013 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Library Survey

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Plagiarism Discovered by Rice University Student

Dear Mr. Christie,

I was a student in the Poverty, Justice, and Human Capabilities course at Rice University this past semester. Thank you for the assistance that you have provided many of my classmates. I have been examining different articles on Wikipedia in order to see how I can potentially improve mine. I wanted to let you know that I have found quite a few Wikipedia articles that contain plagiarized sections, so that we may be able to change them and encourage others to stop committing plagiarism, particularly on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia Articles that I believe exhibit plagiarism: • Energy – Does not have sources for much of the article, yet it seems to have a large amount of traffic. • Le Corbusier – Same situation (details are displayed below). • United Kingdom Climate Change Programme – This article hardly has any sources, yet contains data and claims about the program. • The Great Warming – I believe that this article should be deleted, for it does not fulfill the proposed writing style of a Wikipedia article; it is more like a movie review. • Anthropogenic Hazard – I do not think the photographs on this page are authorized under Wikipedia convention.

I am sure there are others, but the above list is a start. I hope to search for others in the near-future, in order to benefit Wikipedia. Below is a detailed diagnosis of the plagiarism of the Le Corbusier article, which is exemplary of the plagiarism existent within the other articles listed above.

Wikipedia Article: Le Corbusier

It appears, in reviewing the Talk Page for this article, that there is quite a bit of traffic towards and interest in this page. However, there are a tremendous number of plagiarized sections throughout. These sections are prescribed below.

Plagiarized Section: • Early Life and Education, 1887-1914 o “In his early years he would frequently escape the somewhat provincial atmosphere of his hometown by traveling around Europe. In 1906 he made his first trip outside of Switzerland, going to Italy. In around 1907 he travelled to Paris, where he found work in the office of Auguste Perret, the French pioneer of reinforced concrete. It was both his trip to Italy and his employment at Perret's office that began to form his own ideas about architecture. In 1908, he studied architecture in Vienna with Josef Hoffmann. Between October 1910 and March 1911, he worked near Berlin for the renowned architect Peter Behrens, where he may have met Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. He became fluent in German. More than anything during this period, it was his visit to the Charterhouse of the Valley of Ema that influenced his architectural philosophy profoundly for the rest of his life. He believed that all people should have the opportunity to live as beautifully and peacefully as the monks he witnessed in the sanctuaries at the charterhouse.” Plagiarized Sources: • http://www.arc.cmu.ac.th/e-learning/doc/0049_6446.pdf - I believe this was the source of plagiarism and the following links actually plagiarize the Wikipedia article: • http://www.gelonchviladegut.com/en/artist-biograhy-in-the-collection/ • http://www.muebles-iconicos.com/blog/le-corbusier/ • http://www.modborn.com/designers/le-corbusier.html?sort=pd.name&order=DESC&limit=50

Plagiarized Section: • Pseudonym Adopted, 1920 o “His theoretical studies soon advanced into several different single-family house models. Among these was the Maison "Citrohan", a pun on the name of the French Citroën automaker, for the modern industrial methods and materials Le Corbusier advocated using for the house. Here, Le Corbusier proposed a three-floor structure, with a double-height living room, bedrooms on the second floor, and a kitchen on the third floor. The roof would be occupied by a sun terrace. On the exterior Le Corbusier installed a stairway to provide second-floor access from ground level. Here, as in other projects from this period, he also designed the facades to include large uninterrupted banks of windows. The house used a rectangular plan, with exterior walls that were not filled by windows but left as white, stuccoed spaces. Le Corbusier and Jeanneret left the interior aesthetically spare, with any movable furniture made of tubular metal frames. Light fixtures usually comprised single, bare bulbs. Interior walls also were left white. Between 1922 and 1927, Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret designed many of these private houses for clients around Paris. In Boulogne-sur-Seine and the 16th arrondissement of Paris, Le Corbusier and Jeanneret designed and built the Villa Lipschitz, Maison Cook, Maison Planeix, and the Maison La Roche/Albert Jeanneret, which now houses the Fondation Le Corbusier.” Plagiarized Sources: • http://www.muebles-iconicos.com/blog/le-corbusier/ • http://www.theguide.com.br/entertainment/articlesLeCorbusier.cfm • http://www.architectsgig.com/best-arch.php?id=12 • https://stori.uww.edu/henigec/onlinecourses/ah317/modules/62earlycorbusier/content.xml • http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Le_Corbusier_-_The_Early_Villas_1914-1930/id/1568952

Plagiarized Section: • Forays into Urbanism o “For a number of years, French officials had been unsuccessful in dealing with the squalor of the growing Parisian slums, and Le Corbusier sought efficient ways to house large numbers of people in response to the urban housing crisis. He believed that his new, modern architectural forms would provide an organizational solution that would raise the quality of life for the lower classes. His Immeubles Villas (1922) was such a project, calling for large blocks of cell-like individual apartments stacked one on top of one another, with plans that included a living room, bedrooms, and kitchen, as well as a garden terrace.” Plagiarized Sources: • http://www.thedesignhatchery.co.uk/modern-architecture-history - I believe this was the source of plagiarism and the following links actually plagiarize the Wikipedia article: • http://culturemobile.wordpress.com/author/bananacarr/ • http://www.shelterpress.com/categories/le-corbusier.html • http://www.machtay.com/artwebsites/modern/corbusier.html

Plagiarized Section • Five points on Architecture o “It was Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye (1929–31) that most succinctly summed up the five points of architecture that he had elucidated in L'Esprit Nouveau and the book Vers une architecture, which he had been developing throughout the 1920s. First, Le Corbusier lifted the bulk of the structure off the ground, supporting it by pilotis, reinforced concrete stilts. These pilotis, in providing the structural support for the house, allowed him to elucidate his next two points: a free facade, meaning non-supporting walls that could be designed as the architect wished, and an open floor plan, meaning that the floor space was free to be configured into rooms without concern for supporting walls. The second floor of the Villa Savoye includes long strips of ribbon windows that allow unencumbered views of the large surrounding yard, and which constitute the fourth point of his system. The fifth point was the roof garden to compensate for the green area consumed by the building and replacing it on the roof. A ramp rising from ground level to the third-floor roof terrace allows for an architectural promenade through the structure. The white tubular railing recalls the industrial "ocean-liner" aesthetic that Le Corbusier much admired. As if to put an exclamation mark after Le Corbusier's homage to modern industry, the driveway around the ground floor, with its semicircular path, measures the exact turning radius of a 1927 Citroën automobile.”

Plagiarized Sources: • http://www.carolinebutterworth.co.uk/charles-eames-chair/ - I believe this was the source of plagiarism and the following links actually plagiarize the Wikipedia article: • http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Le-Corbusier.pdf • http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/France/North/Ile-de-France/Poissy/photo653397.htm • http://www.achome.co.uk/antiques/artdeco.htm

I am sure that there are others, but these were the sections that I investigated from the article, being that they were not cited with footnotes linking to references.

Thank you for your time, and service to the Wikipedia Community! Happy Holidays!CarolineABrigham (talk) 00:53, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! I'm not going to be able to respond much tonight, but I appreciate the note, and will follow up when I can. I really appreciate this -- finding plagiarism is a great service to Wikipedia. One thing to look out for is reverse plagiarism, which is surprisingly common: sometimes an external source -- even books -- take their text from Wikipedia, so it looks like the Wikipedia article is copied from the source, but in fact the reverse is true. That can be hard to spot, but it might be the case here because some of the sources you cite are web pages, and we see this problem more often with web pages. The best way to check for that is to look at when the text was added to Wikipedia, and look at the date of the web page source, and see which is earlier.

I'll be in touch as soon as I can; it might be a couple of days. Thanks again! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:03, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Happy Holidays...

		Happy Holidays
		Wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday Season, from the horse and bishop person. May the year ahead be productive and troll-free. Ealdgyth - Talk 23:52, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

	Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy, healthy and productive 2014!
	Ruhrfisch ><>°° 01:29, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

Thank you and Merry Christmas, y'all! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:52, 25 December 2013 (UTC)

Notification of automated file description generation

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PR for Ann Rivers

Hello- I was wondering if you could do me a HUGE favor and look at my peer review for Ann Rivers. I am interested in taking it to FA level and think you could help! Thanks! PrairieKid (talk) 21:32, 4 January 2014 (UTC)

Sorry; I don't have much spare time at the moment and won't be able to get to this. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 13:58, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

I completely understand! Thanks for considering it. Cheers. PrairieKid (talk) 17:39, 6 January 2014 (UTC)

Happy New Year!

		Bringing you warm wishes for the New Year!
		May you and yours enjoy a healthful, happy and productive 2014! And thank you for all you do in here! Best regards, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 17:04, 9 January 2014 (UTC)

New features for course pages

Several noticeable improvements to the EducationProgram extension (in addition to some small bug fixes) will go live on or around 2014-01-23:

Notifications

All participants in a course (students, instructors, volunteers) will receive Notifications whenever their course talk page is edited. Thus, editors can use course talk pages to send messages they want the whole class to be aware of, and the class participants are likely to see them.

Special:Contributions student notice

For users enrolled as students in courses that are active, a notice will appear at the top of Special:Contributions noting which course(s) they are enrolled in. This will make it easy for users who come across the work of student editors to find out that they are part of a course and identify other class participants.

Adding articles

Course instructors and volunteers will be able to assign articles to student editors, instead of all articles needing to be added by the student editors themselves.

Adding students

Instructors and volunteers will be able to add users as students in courses, instead of all student editors needing to enroll for themselves. This makes it easier to maintain complete lists of students, and also makes the extension more suitable for tracking participation in edit-a-thons, workshops and other collaborative projects beyond the Wikipedia Education Program.

If you have feedback about these new features, or other questions or ideas related to course pages, please let me know! --Sage Ross (WMF) (talk) 18:14, 22 January 2014 (UTC)

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File:Unknown December 1939 cover.jpg listed for deletion on Wikimedia Commons

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You can read and participate in the deletion discussion if you are interested or do not wish the file to be deleted. Thank you. Closeapple (talk) 05:28, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

Education Program technical update, February 2014

We've started working on "editor campaigns", a system that we expect will eventually be able to replace our current Education Program extension (and be useful for many other purposes as well). The early work with that project will focus on a system for signup up new editors for editing campaigns (such as courses, but also edit-a-thons, Wiki Loves Monuments, etc.). Because of that, progress will be slow on the current course page system. However, we have several improvements that should be available within the next few weeks.

Anyone can edit the main text of course pages

As part of the effort to make course pages behave more like regular wiki pages, we've enabled editing of course pages by anyone. Users who currently have the right to edit courses will have access to all the fields (so that they can change the start/end dates, and change the enrollment token). Users who currently cannot edit courses will be able to edit only the "page text" portion. This change should take effect on 2014-02-27.

Simplified course editing interface

We've considerably simplified the interface for editing course pages, removing the options to rename courses. Changing the title of a course would also move the course page, creating confusion and leading to a number of bugs. Several other parts of the course editing interface were not very useful, so we've removed them to make it easier on newcomers. This change should take effect on 2014-02-27.

Additional Notifications

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Once again, if you have feedback about these new features, or other questions or ideas related to course pages, please let me know!--Sage Ross (WMF) (talk) 17:38, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

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Books & Bytes, Issue 4

Books and Bytes

Volume 1, Issue 4, February 2014

News for February from your Wikipedia Library.

Donations drive: news on TWL's partnership efforts with publishers

Open Access: Feature from Ocaasi on the intersection of the library and the open access movement

American Library Association Midwinter Conference: TWL attended this year in Philadelphia

Royal Society Opens Access To Journals: The UK's venerable Royal Society will give the public (and Wikipedians) full access to two of their journal titles for two days on March 4th and 5th

Going Global: TWL starts work on pilot projects in other language Wikipedias

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:00, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Mentor query

Hey there, I was browsing your WP:FA contributions listed at WP:WBFAN and I highly respect and value your high-level quality improvement to Wikipedia.

I noticed that a great many of your FA contributions are related to science fiction writings.

I was wondering if you'd be interested in mentoring me and/or collaborating with me on a joint project to bring a science fiction novel to FA ?

Thank you for your time, and thanks again for the multitude of FAs you've helped contribute which serve as inspiring examples for me and other Wikipedians,

— Cirt (talk) 18:30, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

I'm flattered that you'd ask me, but I'm going to have to say no. I'm not strong on the literature side; I do have a lot of bibliographic references and historical works that I can use for the publishing history of magazines (which is where I've focused), but I have a lot less knowledge when it comes to content. But the real reason I have to say no is that I'm moving house, which I'm sure is going to severely limit my time on-wiki for at least two or three months (as it has for the last month or more). Aside from anything else, most of my references will be in boxes for quite a while. I am also trying to get radiocarbon dating to FA and have months of work to do there, which I should try to get back to when I do have time. Good luck with the effort, and let me know when you decide to nominate; I'd be interested to see it. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 21:29, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

Alright, no worries, I wish you the best with the move! — Cirt (talk) 03:06, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Main Page appearance: Startling Stories

This is a note to let the main editors of Startling Stories know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on April 25, 2014. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at present, please ask Bencherlite (talk · contribs). You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 25, 2014. If it needs tweaking, or if it needs rewording to match improvements to the article between now and its main page appearance, please edit it, following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. The blurb as it stands now is below:

Startling Stories was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Standard Magazines from 1939 to 1955. Its first editor was Mort Weisinger, who also edited Thrilling Wonder Stories, Standard's other science fiction title. Startling ran a lead novel in every issue; the first was The Black Flame by Stanley G. Weinbaum. The magazine focused on younger readers, and when Weisinger was replaced by Oscar J. Friend in 1941 the magazine became even more juvenile in focus. Sam Merwin, Jr., Friend's successor, was able to improve the quality of the fiction substantially, publishing Arthur C. Clarke's Against the Fall of Night and other well-received stories. Earle K. Bergey painted almost every cover between 1942 and 1952, equipping his heroines with "brass bras" and implausible costumes; the public image of science fiction in his day was partly created by his work. In later years, competition affected the magazine's ability to acquire quality material. In mid-1952 Standard attempted to change Startling's image by adopting a more sober title typeface and reducing the covers' sensationalism, but the pulp magazine market was collapsing and publication ceased in 1955. (Full article...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 23:04, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Copyeditor's Barnstar
	Thanks for your help with the article Graduados Cambalachero (talk) 22:32, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks; and you're welcome. I would have liked to do the GA review too, but I ended up making more edits than would be appropriate for a reviewer. However, I hope that when the article does finally get reviewed, it will have an easier time of it. I'll keep it on my watchlist and if I have time I will help out if the review finds issues. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:36, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Images

Hi Mike,

Congratulations on getting so many articles up to featured status! That's quite a feat. I noticed that a Startling Stories blurb is going up on the main page soon. I was looking for an image that might be suitable, so I searched on the Commons for "Startling Stories" and found this image that was declared in its summary to be a Startling Stories cover but is in actuality a Startling Comics cover; I therefore corrected the summary. It would appear that the copyright on the Startling Comics covers was never renewed. Considering that Ned Pines controlled both Startling Stories and Startling Comics, I thought that perhaps the copyright on the Startling Stories covers was never renewed either. Do you know if it was? If you don't, do you know how we might determine whether or not the copyright on the covers was renewed?

Neelix (talk) 04:14, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! I wish I still had time to work on FAs, but I am barely getting one a year done these days. Re images: take a look at this, which is my reference for how to do the searches. I am pretty confident that the Startling Stories covers were in fact renewed: I recall searching because I was hoping to reduce the number of fair use covers in the article. I think they're justified because Startling, more than almost any other sf magazine, is known for its covers, and because the Bergey covers had such a strong influence on the public perception of sf; but I am sure when it runs as a TFA there will be complaints on the talk page about over-use of fair use. If you discover that copyright wasn't renewed, let me know -- that would be great news. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 10:57, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

Notification of automated file description generation

Your upload of File:Ceawlin map.gif or contribution to its description is noted, and thanks (even if belatedly) for your contribution. In order to help make better use of the media, an attempt has been made by an automated process to identify and add certain information to the media's description page.

This notification is placed on your talk page because a bot has identified you either as the uploader of the file, or as a contributor to its metadata. It would be appreciated if you could carefully review the information the bot added. To opt out of these notifications, please follow the instructions here. Thanks! Message delivered by Theo's Little Bot (opt-out) 14:08, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Books & Bytes - Issue 5

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 5, March 2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs)

• New Visiting Scholar positions
• TWL Branch on Arabic Wikipedia, microgrants program
• Australian articles get a link to librarians
• Spotlight: "7 Reasons Librarians Should Edit Wikipedia"

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:54, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Education Program technical update, April 2014

Since the last update, development of the editor campaigns project has been continuing, and it's almost at the point that it will be useful to users running edit-a-thons and other non-course outreach events. (If you are planning such an event soon and would like to beta test it for tracking the contributions of newcomers, get it touch.) In the meantime, we've made a few small improvements and bug fixes to the Education Program extension:

Default course end date

The default end date for courses is now approximately six months in the future, instead of immediately. This will prevent the common problem where a user creates a new course page but does change the default dates, resulting in a course that is immediately considered "ended" and thus cannot be enrolled in.

Notifications when you get added to a course

Whenever a user gets added to a course by someone else, they will now receive a Notification.

Disabling individual student profiles

The student profile special page (Special:Student/Username, not to be confused with Special:Students) is a page that lists the courses a student editor is enrolled in, and is also supposed to list the articles that user is working on. However, the list of articles can include incorrect data in cases where an instructor or volunteer assigned the articles to the student editor. These profiles are being removed from the extension altogether. This change should go into effect Thursday, May 1. (Logs are still available to find out which courses a user is enrolled in.)

Article edit notifications for students coming soon

A nearly complete patch from Facebook Open Academy student Jeff Lloyd will add a new type of Notification: students will be alerted to edits made by others to the article(s) they are assigned (as well as the corresponding talk pages). Expect to see this feature within the next several weeks.

Duplicate courses and API deletion

Bugs in the course page creation process (now fixed) led in some cases to duplicate listings for the same course at Special:Courses. This happens when the same course page had two (or more) different course ID numbers. It is possible to clean up such duplicate entries using by making calls to the API. I've documented this process and written a Python script for it.

If you have feedback about these changes, or other questions or ideas related to course pages, please let Anna Koval or me know!--Sage Ross (WMF) (talk) 19:23, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

Subscribe or unsubscribe from future Wikipedia Education Program technical updates.

Survey for editors who mentor newcomer

Dear Wikipedia Ambassador,

I am seeking input on your experience as a mentor to new Wikipedians. This survey is designed to provide insight for the development of a new mentorship support tool on Wikipedia. If you have a moment, please take this survey, it should not take more than 10 minutes of your time to complete.

https://syracuseuniversity.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4V2SSrhU2NFOVAV

Also, if you are able to, I would greatly appreciate it if you would send the following survey to the mentee you worked with:

https://syracuseuniversity.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_4V1quUdMZ1By3Ah

Thank you in advance for your participation, Gabriel Mugar 13:33, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

Demographic history of Scotland

Many thanks for a very helpful review. Much appreciated.--SabreBD (talk) 18:15, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. Always a pleasure to review a well-researched and well-written article. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 18:33, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for fixing the "entertaining typo" - however, the original did explain a lot about Glasgow.--SabreBD (talk) 00:37, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Singapore legal GANs

Kindly note that I have resolved some of the prose concerns raised at Talk:Fettering of discretion in Singapore administrative law/GA1, Talk:Illegality in Singapore administrative law/GA1‎, Talk:Precedent fact errors in Singapore law/GA1‎. Please review my edits and strike out issues that have been addressed to your satisfaction. This will help professor Smuconlaw (remember to notify him of holds) focus on content issues that require legal knowledge to address. Thanks for your effort in thoroughly reviewing these articles and have a nice day! --Hildanknight (talk) 15:17, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Kindly note that I have dealt with the only remaining issue at Illegality in Singapore administrative law‎ and the external links in Non-constituency Member of Parliament. Could you check whether the former is ready for promotion? Looking forward to reading your reviews of the latter, Powers of the President of Singapore and Remedies in Singapore administrative law soon. Unfortunately, I may be without my computer for the first few days of May. --Hildanknight (talk) 10:12, 27 April 2014 (UTC)

I just passed Illegality in Singapore administrative law‎ and am about to go back to Non-constituency Member of Parliament. No problem if you're unavailable for a few days in May; it's fine if whatever is being worked on then sits untouched for a bit. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:16, 27 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for passing Illegality in Singapore administrative law‎. For Non-constituency Member of Parliament, I added a sentence about PAP dominance in the second paragraph of the lead and believe the article is ready for promotion. If you can finish your review of Remedies in Singapore administrative law by today, I will address as much as possible before my brief hiatus (if not, never mind). Then you could review the remaining nominations during my absence and once I return, I will deal with your concerns. How does that sound? --Hildanknight (talk) 02:21, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, back at work today so not much more I can do till the evenings. Don't worry about being away; these can wait till you get back. I may not get through all of them before your return anyway. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:14, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

May I suggest that you start reviewing Rule of law doctrine in Singapore and give Smuconlaw a final reminder regarding Remedies in Singapore administrative law? --Hildanknight (talk) 15:13, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I've left a note for Smuconlaw; I'm probably not going to be reviewing the other article, though -- I have finally moved into my new house and expect to have access to my references soon, so I will be working on some other articles. I hope you find another reviewer soon. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 18:14, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Books & Bytes, Issue 6

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 6, April-May 2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs)

• New donations from Oxford University Press and Royal Society (UK)
• TWL does Vegas: American Library Association Annual plans
• TWL welcomes a new coordinator, resources for library students and interns
• New portal on Meta, resources for starting TWL branches, donor call blitzes, Wikipedia Visiting Scholar news, and more

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:59, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Hello, Mike Christie. You have new messages at Smuconlaw's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Hilda Rix Nicholas

Thank you for that. I have responded on all points, i think. Let me know if you have any other thoughts. hamiltonstone (talk) 04:56, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Archiving questions...

Hello, I wonder if you've noticed that the talk page for Middle Ages hasn't been archived since 3 June, when you changed the archiving period? I can't see what the problem is, so I thought I'd ask you before I head off to a bot's talk page somewhere. I also ask because I have a similar situation on my own talk page. Cheers. Nortonius (talk) 14:32, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

I hadn't noticed; thanks for pointing that out. I'll see if I can figure it out this evening, but feel free to go and fix it now if you can work out what's wrong. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:50, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

D'oh – I only just noticed the setting for minimum threads equals the number of threads! I'd guess that's it, sorry... I'll go ahead and change that to one for now, do feel free to revert anything I do there that you think I shouldn't! Cheers. Nortonius (talk) 15:28, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

Looks like you got it sorted out -- thanks! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 10:38, 19 June 2014 (UTC)

... finally! Sorted my own talk page archiving into the bargain, I'd looked but simply hadn't spotted the minthreadsleft issue! Happy to help. Nortonius (talk) 12:30, 19 June 2014 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Library: New Account Coordinators Needed

Hi Books & Bytes recipients: The Wikipedia Library has been expanding rapidly and we need some help! We currently have 10 signups for free account access open and several more in the works... In order to help with those signups, distribute access codes, and manage accounts we'll need 2-3 more Account Coordinators.

It takes about an hour to get up and running and then only takes a couple hours per week, flexible depending upon your schedule and routine. If you're interested in helping out, please drop a note in the next week at my talk page or shoot me an email at: jorlowitzgmail.com. Thanks and cheers, Jake Ocaasi via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:41, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

Nomination of Alexander J. Clements for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Alexander J. Clements is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Alexander J. Clements until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. MrLinkinPark333 (talk) 00:02, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

Radiocarbon dating

Hi, Mike -- I noticed your recent edits to Radiocarbon dating and saw where you added "scintillation counters". I didn't know what that was, so I just wanted to see if it was explained either in the article or in a linked article. I found it in the first paragraph in Radiocarbon dating#Preparation. The sentence begins:

"For samples in liquid form, for liquid scintillation counters, benzene is used,..."

and there is a link at "liquid scintillation counters". I am not as familiar with the science as I am with working to ensure clarity in articles. I think I have already read the article on radiocarbon dating (probably will read it again one of these days), and will probably read the article about "liquid scintillation counters", too, but something about this sentence is not clear to me. It's a minor issue, but perhaps you wouldn't mind looking at it. It is a bit unusual to have two phrases joined by a comma like that. A phrase enclosed in a pair of commas is often an appositive, but it doesn't appear to be an appositive here. In other words, "liquid scintillation counters" is not an explanation for, or synonym of, "samples in liquid form", is it? So it is unclear why these phrases are joined. Is it "for samples in liquid form and for liquid scintillation counters"? Or what? I'm sure this is all very clear to you, but to the average reader, I don't think it is. Thanks in advance for your time. CorinneSD (talk) 23:25, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Hi, Corinne -- nice to meet you! Thanks for the comment. I agree I didn't phrase it very well. Yes, it's an appositive phrase. The intended meaning is "For samples in liquid form, which is the form that is needed for liquid scintillation counters, ..." The previous sentence describes the production of gas for use in gas counting devices; I probably hoped when I wrote that that the parallel construction would allow me to shorten the second sentence, but I think I went too far. How about "Liquid scintillation counters, which require the sample to be in liquid form, use benzene, ..."? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:37, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

I probably should have read the preceding sentences a little more carefully. I see now what you were trying to do. May I suggest the addition of "use in" for the gas counting device so that it reads, "for use in gas counting devices"? Regarding the liquid method, I don't understand the role of benzene. I should think it is either a solvent for the sample or just a liquid for the sample to be suspended in. It's not the sample itself, right? Could a phrase be added after "use benzene" to indicate what the benzene is for? Your suggestion is all right. May I suggest something else?:

Liquid scintillation counters require the sample to be in liquid form. Though other liquids were tried during the early days of the technique, today benzene is used as the solvent for the sample (or whatever it is).

Or, you could add a sentence in between:

Liquid scintillation counters require the sample to be in liquid form. The sample must be dissolved in... / suspended in... a solvent (or whatever it is). Though other liquids were tried during the early days of the technique, today benzene is normally used.

(How does a sample turn into liquid form?) You can see I know almost nothing about radiocarbon dating. I just like things to be clear. CorinneSD (talk) 01:36, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

If it's not clear, it needs to be fixed, so I'm happy to keep working on it. Let me give you a bit more information about the process and then you can tell me where it's missing in the article. Testing a radiocarbon sample requires that the carbon in the sample (e.g. the carbon in the old piece of bone or wood or whatever it is) be extracted from the sample by a chemical process, and converted to a form suitable for use in whatever device is going to test it. Each different device requires the carbon to be in a different form. For the gas counters, the carbon is usually converted to carbon dioxide; for the counters that work with liquids, the carbon has to be converted to a liquid that contains carbon, such as benzene. So the benzene is not a solvent -- it really is the original sample, converted into a new form. Does that clarify things? If so, what would make this clearer in the article? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 02:12, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Thank you so much for explaining all that. I think I really ought to read the article again, too. I think I can help formulate the sentence(s), but right now I'm too tired to do that. Do you mind if I wait until tomorrow? I just have one question (and I know it's getting into more detail than is needed for these sentences). You say that the carbon is converted into benzene. But with different samples, is the amount of carbon in the benzene different from sample to sample, or is it just the amount or percentage of the radioactive carbon that decays (I know it has a number -- is it 14?) that is different from sample to sample? Does that mean that the character of the benzene is different from sample to sample? (I wasn't very good at chemistry, but I do like minerology, and I like to learn.) Maybe all this is explained in the article, which I will read again tomorrow. CorinneSD (talk) 02:22, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Actually I've been working on the article for a while; I had to stop for months because I was moving house and my reference books were in boxes, but I'm ready to start up again, and would like to get it to good article or even featured article status. I'm very glad to have someone else read it and improve it, but I should also tell you that I don't think the article is in what I'd consider a final state -- I am planning quite a bit more work on it, both in adding new material (on calibration, speleothems, and significant uses) and also in organization -- the article is too long, and needs to be trimmed, with some material going into subsidiary articles. I'd be glad of help on any of that, but if your focus is mostly on making sure things read smoothly, perhaps you'd like to wait till I think the article is good enough not to be a waste of your time? If you're interested in doing more, of course I'd be very glad of that too. (And it's late here too (I'm on the east coast of the US) so I won't be posting again till tomorrow, after this.)

To your specific question, it's the amount of carbon-14 that's different. If you have a piece of bone that is 10,000 years old, and another piece that is 20,000 years old, the older piece will have only a quarter as much carbon-14 (relative to the total amount of carbon) that the younger piece will have. So if the 10,000-year-old bone has 12 parts per million of carbon-14, the 20,000-year-old bone will only have about 3 parts per million of carbon-14. By "parts per million" I mean carbon-14 atoms per million carbon-12 atoms -- the "per million" only refers to carbon atoms in the samples.

When you convert a sample to benzene for testing, the ratio of the carbon-14 to carbon-12 doesn't change (or at least it's not supposed to). So the two samples will differ in the amount of radioactive carbon-14, and hence in the number of scintillation flashes detected, and that allows the age of the sample to be calculated. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 02:46, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

Thank you so much for the explanation about benzene and carbon-14. I will wait until you have finished working on the article to review it for readability, etc. -- but I'm sure it will be very good because you obviously write well. If you want to, you can just let me know when you're all finished and I'll read it then. CorinneSD (talk) 19:41, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

OK, I'll let you know. Thanks! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 02:13, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

Wool

Do you agree with the recent edits to Wool? I don't know about GHG, etc., but, to me, "carbon footprint" is more recognizable by the average reader than "greenhouse gas footprint". But, of course, accuracy is important. CorinneSD (talk) 01:07, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

I think I would want to be convinced that there should be a carbon footprint section at all -- after all, almost any manufactured product has a carbon footprint, but I don't think that justifies a section in every such article. To the question you asked: yes, "carbon footprint" is more recognizable to me, though perhaps "greenhouse gas footprint" is common in the scholarly sources. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:14, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

I think the section is a little odd. I don't recall seeing such a section in articles about other materials. Do you have an idea how to proceed? Shall we ask some other editors such as Materialscientist, Sminthopsis84, or Vsmith? CorinneSD (talk) 01:20, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

I think it would be a good start to post a note to the talk page of the article, asking if such a section is really warranted. The information is encyclopaedic; it's just a question of where it belongs. I'll watch the talk page, if you would like to post there. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:22, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Holiday Cheer

		Holiday Cheer
		Victuallers talkback is wishing Mike Season's Greetings! This message celebrates the holiday season, promotes WikiLove, and hopefully makes your day a little better. Spread the seasonal good cheer by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone with whom you had disagreements in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Share the good feelings. - Vic/Roger

-- Signing so this will archive. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 19:53, 12 July 2014 (UTC)

Boat Race 2012 PR

Hi Mike, just a quick note to thank you for your review, very much appreciated. I'll go through the comments in due course and then, when I've had enough Dutch courage, will head to FAC. My best, The Rambling Man (talk) 15:31, 12 July 2014 (UTC)

Hi Mike, I've nominated it for FAC but then realised I'd failed to respond to your responses! I'm just out for a few hours but will get to those as soon as I can, so please don't think I was ignoring them! Best, The Rambling Man (talk) 07:57, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

P.S. After a dreadfully hot day of trawling around the shops following my better half and marvellously happy son, I got back to it and hopefully resolved (or attempted to resolve) the issues you noted. Thanks again for your time and energy. The Rambling Man (talk) 18:51, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

No problem; I've updated my comments. Just one fairly minor point left. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 10:25, 17 July 2014 (UTC)

Radiocarbon dating

Mike, I noticed that there are two spaces after each period and before the next sentence. In edit mode I see that you have used "no break space", plus a space. I haven't seen that used after periods in other articles. I used to put two spaces after each period because I learned to type on a typewriter, and I asked another editor about that when I first started editing on WP, and it was explained to me that on WP, only one space is normally placed after a period. If you look at other articles, I think you'll see that that is the case. CorinneSD (talk) 01:32, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

See MOS:PUNCTSPACE. This link will bring you to "Spacing". The first sub-section is "Spaces following terminal punctuation". CorinneSD (talk) 01:39, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

I think that must be an artefact of using the Visual Editor; I do habitually use two spaces after a full stop, but I have always understood that this makes no difference, per [Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Spaces_following_terminal_punctuation|this MOS section]], which says MediaWiki ignores it. (The link you provided to PUNCTSPACE didn't work for me, by the way; can you give me the full link? I suspect it goes to the same page I just linked to.) I'll raise a question on the VE feedback page about this. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:43, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

Well, I just looked at the article, and I'm confused; where are you seeing the "no break space"? I don't see that when I edit. Do you have some editing gadget enabled that shows you this? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:46, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

Maybe another editor added the "no break space" before, and you simply don't see it, but that with a space perhaps creates two spaces whereas two spaces created by hitting the space bar twice would only show up as one space. If you go to "Preferences" (all the way at the top of your talk page), and click on it, then look at a horizontal row of tabs. Click on "Gadgets". Then look for the Editing section. Click on "WikEd" to enable it, and then click the save button. It's fantastic. When you are in Edit Mode, regular text is in black (I believe), tags and hidden notes to editors are in light salmon, references are in gray (I believe), and picture captions are in green. It enables you to read text more easily in Edit Mode because you can skip over the references and tags (or, vice versa, it allows you to focus on the references). You also get more editing tools at the top and the bottom of your edit window. You'll see all the "no break spaces" (looks like "and" symbol N b s p semi-colon) in the text. They might need to be removed. CorinneSD (talk) 02:03, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

I just enabled WikEd and I see what you mean. I'm busy for a couple of hours but later today I'll try some test edits and see if I can figure out what's causing this -- I suspect it's because I'm using the visual editor (which I have to say I prefer to WikEd), but I can't be sure. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:44, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

I figured it out -- it's because I pasted in that text from Microsoft Word, where I drafted it. Word preserves two spaces between sentences and pastes the first one as a non-breaking space. I'll delete them this evening. Thanks for spotting that! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 20:56, 6 July 2014 (UTC)

Did you ask Pat Hadley re an expert? Johnbod (talk) 13:58, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

Yes, here; he hasn't responded yet. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:15, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

Hi, Mike -- I'm sorry I haven't finished reading the article. I found it quite difficult for me so I could only read a little at a time. Then I became busy with other things for a while. Do you still want me to read to the end, or do you think it's all right now? CorinneSD (talk) 20:42, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

Up to you; there's no obligation, but I'd be glad of any feedback you can give me. It is a fairly technical article, and if you do read it I'd like to know which parts are hard to understand. Thanks. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 21:10, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

Science Fiction (magazine)

I understand and support the reasons of your page move. However if you will be making this kind of moves in the future, please take care ow wikilinks. For the current case (which was crewed up anyway), I will take care for Polish links. Please figure out the rest. Staszek Lem (talk) 23:00, 20 July 2014 (UTC)

Hi -- I apologize if I screwed something up, but I thought I took care of the double redirects. Can you tell me what I missed, so I'll know in future? Also, I see you added Science Fiction Quarterly to Science Fiction (magazine); I don't think that should be included. There are several magazines which are named Science Fiction X, for various different X -- "Digest", "Quarterly", "Adventures", "Monthly". I think only ones that were actually named just Science Fiction should be included. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:10, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Books & Bytes New Years Double Issue

Books & Bytes

Volume 1 Issue 3, December/January 2013

(Sign up for monthly delivery)

Happy New Year, and welcome to a special double issue of Books & Bytes. We've included a retrospective on the changes and progress TWL has seen over the last year, the results of the survey TWL participants completed in December, some of our plans for the future, a second interview with a Wiki Love Libraries coordinator, and more. Here's to 2014 being a year of expansion and innovation for TWL!

The Wikipedia Library completed the first 6 months of its Individual Engagement grant last week. Here's where we are and what we've done:

Increased access to sources: 1500 editors signed up for 3700 free accounts, individually worth over $500,000, with usage increases of 400-600%

Deep networking: Built relationships with Credo, HighBeam, Questia, JSTOR, Cochrane, LexisNexis, EBSCO, New York Times, and OCLC

New pilot projects: Started the Wikipedia Visiting Scholar project to empower university-affiliated Wikipedia researchers

Developed community: Created portal connecting 250 newsletter recipients, 30 library members, 3 volunteer coordinators, and 2 part-time contractors

Tech scoped: Spec'd out a reference tool for linking to full-text sources and established a basis for OAuth integration

Broad outreach: Wrote a feature article for Library Journal's The Digital Shift; presenting at the American Library Association annual meeting

...Read Books & Bytes!

Signing so this will archive. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 13:48, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Online ambassador for policing course

I'm incorporating a semester-long Wikipedia assignment into my policing course at Weber State University. Would you be willing to be the Wikipedia ambassador for our course? The assignment will closely follow the Wikimedia Foundation's suggested syllabus with the exception that I'll give them a list of pages they can choose from. I'm computer savvy and have done some HTML coding, but I'm new to editing/writing on Wikipedia. If you could help, that would be great! Profmwilliams (talk) 21:25, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 7

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 7, June-July 2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

• Seven new donations, two expanded partnerships
• TWL's Final Report up, read the summary
• Adventures in Las Vegas, WikiConference USA, and updates from TWL coordinators
• Spotlight: Blog post on BNA's impact on one editor's research

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:20, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Stigand

Can I get you to weigh in here? I think the additions are undue, but my revert of the additions was reverted - and discussion doesn't seem to be taking place. Very frustrating. Ealdgyth - Talk 14:17, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Sure -- it'll be tonight; I'm at work. (I did just edit Offa on my phone while waiting in someone's office, but I can't usually do that!) Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:25, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

I never try to edit wiki on my phone. I do occasionally do some from my iPad but.. the phone is too small. I'm impressed you can! Ealdgyth - Talk 14:27, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Dynamic Science Fiction

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Dynamic Science Fiction you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of J Milburn -- J Milburn (talk) 14:42, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Dynamic Science Fiction

The article Dynamic Science Fiction you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Dynamic Science Fiction for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of J Milburn -- J Milburn (talk) 18:42, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for August 14

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Comet (magazine), you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Carl Jacobi. Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

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Nature article on Neanderthals

There is an article in this week's edition of Nature on the chronology of the Neanderthals that relies heavily on C14 dating. Apparently the late dates for Neanderthals are erroneous and a result of contamination by "young carbon" and "should be set to one side." The "Supplementary information" file provides more information and states that "It is now clear that the majority of the previously determined radiocarbon ages obtained from Mousterian contexts are erroneously young." It may be worthwhile having a sentence on this in the Contamination section. If you don't have access to the article (actually a "Letter") I can email you a pdf. Aa77zz (talk) 07:12, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

I don't have access, so a PDF would be great; I'll email you so you have my email address. Thanks for the heads up. I saw the addition you made to the interpretation section; looks good to me -- are you thinking that there should be a note in both the interpretation and contamination sections? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 10:19, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

I wrote the above before I had looked carefully at the article. I now don't think you need to touch the Contamination section. It might be possible to flesh out my short paragraph very slightly with a little more info on the sample selection and on the steps necessary to avoid contamination. Perhaps it would be worthwhile adding the age of the Neanderthal specimens. Aa77zz (talk) 12:28, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Death on the Rock/archive2

Hi Mike, sorry I never got round to properly addressing your comments the first time round, but I've made a few changes to Death on the Rock and renominated it. Would you be willing to take another look? Thanks, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 21:11, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Sure, I should be able to look at it tonight or tomorrow. Should I repost my comments or do you feel they're addressed now? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 21:44, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

I think I got everything, except your query about the Panorama episode—I couldn't find anything to confirm that one way or the other. If there's anything I've missed (or not fully resolved), though, please do re-post it. Best, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:36, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

RFA?

Hi Mike. Not sure if you ever considered an RfA. If you ever might consider, would be happy to nominate. Regards. Wifione ^Message 16:13, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, but I've never found any need for the tools, so I don't really need to be an admin. I appreciate the offer to nominate. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 16:27, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply. Regards. Wifione ^Message 16:53, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries/GA1

Hi Mike. Not wishing to be pedantic but: If someone else has started a review you can add comments to the review page, but it should be closed by the original reviewer. Regards, Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 01:49, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

Oops. Haven't done that many GA reviews and I hadn't run into that before. Please go ahead and restore it if you like -- sorry about that. If you don't restore it I will take it into account when closing anyway. It's going to take a lot of work to get to GA, but I don't mind so long as Bellow558 is willing. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:58, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

It's a big article and you've you've done exceptionally well so far - take your time with it. I have a vested interest because I live there and I created the parent project. Do bear in mind that it's only a GA and not a FA though. Have you run the links checker script yet? --Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 03:44, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

I hear you on the GA/FA distinction; I mostly do FA reviews so it's easy for me to forget. However, I do think there are problems. I suspect the real issue is that Bellow558 knows the topic so well that it's hard for them to realize just how much explanation it can take to clarify just what happened. In addition, the events themselves are confusing -- I just figured out what happened to Halesowen; it took at least two explanations before I got it. So some more clarity really is needed; any reader who knows nothing of English counties and their history coming into the article is going to be completely confused. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 22:21, 30 August 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 14 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. 23W 05:15, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine)

The article Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine) you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 14 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine) for things which need to be addressed. 23W 18:57, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine)

The article Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Tales of Magic and Mystery (magazine) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. 23W 21:33, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the prompt and helpful review -- much appreciated. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 21:38, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

You're welcome! :) 23W (stalk) 21:58, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Precious again

Super Science Stories
Thank you for quality articles such as Authentic Science Fiction, and for your good advice on How I survive Wikipedia, - repeating: you are an awesome Wikipedian (3 October 2010)!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:02, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Two years ago, you were the 233rd recipient of my PumpkinSky Prize, repeated in br'erly style, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:58, 3 September 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! I appreciate it. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:09, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Tables

Since you've got a good handle on things that can go wrong, I hope you will look at mw:VisualEditor/Design/Table editor. Coding on proper table support might start in the next month or two. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:58, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

I looked through it -- are you looking for any particular sort of feedback? What I see there seems sensible. The team seems to be pretty good at figuring out how to design these interfaces, or at least they're better than I would be. I'm fairly good at breaking software -- probably better than at designing it. I'd be glad to try editing on pre-release versions if that would be useful. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:10, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for September 7

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Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback

The suggestion didn't work, but thanks for your reply. I'll have to save my work more often. - Dank (push to talk) 02:33, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Sorry it didn't work. It's annoying because I find VE sufficiently easier to use that I am tempted into longer editing sessions; there's less need to save to see what's become of the page. That's riskier behaviour until it becomes more reliable. I hope the new draft space backup they mention on the feedback page is implemented soon; it would be great to have that as a backstop. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 02:42, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

That would help a lot. - Dank (push to talk) 03:33, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Special Barnstar
	For your work on Bede. A delightful article! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:16, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! Ealdgyth and I had plans to take it to GA and eventually FA, but it sort of petered out. I think we did improve it quite a bit, though. Ealdgyth, if you're up for it I might be able to do some more work on it this winter; there are a couple of other projects I want to finish first though. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 18:11, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Certainly looks like you could get to it FA. When I browse it really awes me how much work Ealdgyth and yourself and a few others have put into wikipedia on people of that period. Very impressed!♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:47, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Tracking student progress

Hi Mike, Is there a way for me to tell if students have completed the online student orientation? I looked at some of their user pages and contributions and it doesn't seem to show up there. Thanks! Profmwilliams (talk) 17:41, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

I don't know, but I know who will know. @Jami (Wiki Ed): can you answer this? I'm not aware of a way to do it, unless there's a record in their contributions of an edit they make as a result. How about looking to see if they completed the feedback page at the end -- doesn't that show up as a contribution? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 18:09, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

@Profmwilliams: The only way to do it right now, unfortunately, is to check this page. This page populates the student's username when the student completes the training. I find the easiest way is to use Ctrl+f to search for an individual student and see if they are there! I hope that helps, and you should know this is on our radar for something to improve with software down the line! Jami (Wiki Ed) (talk) 21:12, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

Jami (Wiki Ed) and Mike Christie Thanks for your help! I'll get on them to complete the training.Profmwilliams (talk) 01:27, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Fantasy (1938 magazine)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Fantasy (1938 magazine) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 19:42, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Fantasy (1938 magazine)

The article Fantasy (1938 magazine) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Fantasy (1938 magazine) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 13:02, 13 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Comet (magazine)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Comet (magazine) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 17:44, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

Article on early pulp

JSTOR 4240420 is a note on early pulp magazine history (mostly not sci-fi) which might be helpful if you're writing about mags in the teens or 20s and want some context. Protonk (talk) 16:26, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

Very interesting; he describes Moskowitz as an "honorable" exception to his statement that most commentary on pulps is nonsense. I wonder if he's including Ashley in that list, though Ashley only addresses sf & f pulps. Thanks for the link -- it'll be very useful. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 18:46, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Comet (magazine)

The article Comet (magazine) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Comet (magazine) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 13:42, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

• I didn't leave a closing comment, but the article looks great. I added a few of the sources I noted (where it was possible to get context around claims, not just snippet views) and the remainder either cover things already in the article or can't be parsed with any confidence (i.e. we just have a sentence fragment available online). I'm pretty stoked that I got to review both Comet and Fantasy as these are the sorts of articles I think Wikipedia can do really well. It's enduringly cool that 100 years from now someone will be able to read a reasonable, pithy summary of a magazine that had 3 issues before WWII or 5 issues during it and get a good sense of the history. I also took the liberty of adding some talk page banners (same ones as Comet).
• Oh, if you're interested, the same Asimov book also notes that Asimov's first fan letter was published by Tremaine for Astounding in 1935. That article (as Astounding became Analog) is likely not among the ones you'll send to GAN for fear of limited sourcing, so I probably won't review it at any point (FAC still intimidates me :) ), but you'll probably cycle through it in the future. Thanks again for the updates/responses/etc. Protonk (talk) 14:00, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Whatever's in the Asimov (I'll look this evening) may also be in his autobiography; I have In Memory Yet Green, the first volume, and I'll take a look in that, though I think it's in the basement in a box at the moment so it might be a while. I'm very happy to hear you enjoy reviewing these -- I'm sure you noticed there are another half-dozen at GAN, and there are at least one or two more on their way there. I would be delighted if you had time to review them -- you've been very effective at improving them and finding sources I've missed. As for FAC, I can tell you you're perfectly capable of a high-quality FAC review. If you want to try your hand, Future Science Fiction and Science Fiction Stories is currently at FAC, and is languishing near the bottom for lack of sufficient reviews. Can I tempt you? It's a fairly interesting one -- it has one of the more bizarre bibliographic histories I've come across, and that counts as interesting for me, anyway. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 15:02, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Tell you what. I'll take a look at Future Science Fiction and Science Fiction Stories if you take a look at Livermorium, which is currently at GAN. The editor mostly involved with that article has written a number of other articles on super-heavy elements and they're both good at what they do and very responsive to comments. I think articles like that can benefit strongly from a reviewer outside the world of physics, as you'll ask the sorts of questions that an insider might assume away. I tried to get another GA reviewer to look at it but they demurred. I'd review it but having reviewed 2 of their other articles in short order I figured a different perspective would be valuable. Don't feel obligated to actually review it, just mosey over and see if you'd be interested. :) Protonk (talk) 15:12, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Deal. I need to pick up some GANs anyway; I have been catching up on FAC reviews so I'm a bit behind at GAN. Probably later this week. Thanks! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 15:18, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Left a note. Finding new sources was even tougher due to the variety of names the magazines took on. I have a few comments and some sourcing suggestions. Once the comments are answered/addressed I'm happy to support it for FA. Protonk (talk) 22:12, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. I need to get back to a couple of FACs I've commented on where the editors have replied; if I get through that tonight I'll get back to Comet and Future/Science Fiction Stories. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:00, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

• fun fact, reviewing this article caused me to find a bug in wikipedia's mobile front end. It was specifically this article because you were using the visual editor and it uses a funny method of naming references if you didn't name them already but choose the "re-use" option in the citation dropdown. Unfortunately bugzilla doesn't let you edit comments so my report makes me sound like a dumbass: link as I edited parts of it while I was writing and didn't notice I repeated myself 3 times. :) Protonk (talk) 01:46, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

  Join the club; I've found several bugs. I seem to be in rather a minority in that I really like VE, though it's certainly buggy at the moment. I am actually learning more about markup by identifying and trying to understand these bugs than I have in the last couple of years of editing.

  I've just finished one FAC, and need to look in on another; may not get back to Comet and Future tonight, depending on how long the next one takes. More time for my new refs to arrive .... Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 02:03, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 01:02, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

First edits next week

Thought I'd give you a heads-up that my students will be making their first minor edits sometime next week. Their assignment by next Friday is to add 1–2 sentences of new information, backed up with a citation to an appropriate source, to a Wikipedia article related to the class. I'm requiring them to first post the new sentence(s) to the relevant article's talk page for feedback, and then make the change in the main article only after they've received some feedback from other editors. Profmwilliams (talk) 15:26, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories

The article Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 03:22, 19 September 2014 (UTC)

If you ever get back to Analog

This JSTOR 4239566 may be useful (especially if the images are copyrighted and you need good justification for a FUR). It's not terribly useful in general (and the examples are frustratingly limited to the popular mags), but good for comment on covers. Protonk (talk) 23:04, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

I skimmed through it; it looks like it will be useful -- thanks. Also interesting in its own right. I do plan to get Analog done but am working on some of the lower-hanging fruit for now. I am tracking progress here; I suspect Analog will be the last one -- anything after 1980 is going to be difficult because there aren't good sources till the next volume of Mike Ashley's history comes out. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:12, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Ten Story Fantasy

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Ten Story Fantasy you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 00:22, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Escape from AlcaMako'sClass

I actually did the exact same thing a couple weeks ago in somebody elses class. Click on the "More" button with the triangle right next to the search box and then click unenroll. The link that says "remove from course" does not work and this means I can't remove you at all! It's actually a patched bug but won't be fixed in the live MediaWiki for a couple more days. —mako๛ 03:11, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks -- hope you don't mind having an involuntary student for a few days more! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:43, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Rodent FA

Thanks for reviewing. Could you respond to the comments by Cwmhiraeth and I? LittleJerry (talk) 00:22, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

I should be able to take another look this evening. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:56, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

Can you look at the characteristics section again. Does starting with the defining incisors make it more definitional? LittleJerry (talk) 02:47, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

@LittleJerry: The article is definitely improved; the sections I was most concerned about now read more generally, and the additional information on various points (diet, fossorial habits) has made a difference. I will reread over the next few days, but I am hesitant about supporting. Perhaps you'll tell me I'm wrong, but the article doesn't feel like it was written by a rodent expert. Ucucha's comments highlit what I was worrying about -- I didn't have the knowledge to point to omissions and errors, but I felt it was possible there were some; and apparently that was the case. Certainly you've addressed the points Ucucha raised, but I'm not clear that was an exhaustive list. I'd like to feel confident that the article is truly comprehensive before I go through the article with an eye to supporting. Can you tell what you've been able to do by way of getting subject matter experts to review the article for comprehensiveness and balance? I know DrChrissy has a background in some areas related to the article, but do any of the other editors have the right background to be able to assess the current state of knowledge? The point Ucucha made about monophyly vs. polyphyly made me think that probably wasn't the case, and that makes me nervous. Sorry to say this -- it's not a criticism at all; I think you've done a great job improving the article, and it's in very good shape now. To be an FA, though, we have to be sure it's comprehensive, and I would like more reassurance on that. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:11, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. Unfortunately Ucucha hasn't responded yet and I hope he does soon. LittleJerry (talk) 14:26, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Original Barnstar
	Mike, the more I look at Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the happier I am that you chose to devote some of your precious time to our beautiful project. Please see my most recent edits and evaluate them objectively. Thanks, and until we meet again. Drmies (talk) 05:27, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

Your changes look good to me. Thanks for the barnstar! I still think about going back to AS topics but my current project is radiocarbon dating, which will take me at least till Christmas -- I am waiting for the latest edition of one of the key sources to be published, and should be able to take it to FAC eventually. After that, we'll see. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 12:31, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

GA review of Livermorium

Hello. I tried to address your comments: is the article better now? Double sharp (talk) 07:12, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

I think the links should be OK now. If any are still not working please tell me and I'll try to fix them. Double sharp (talk) 15:40, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 22:02, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Tops in Science Fiction

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Tops in Science Fiction you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 22:02, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Tops in Science Fiction

The article Tops in Science Fiction you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Tops in Science Fiction for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 00:02, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Ten Story Fantasy

The article Ten Story Fantasy you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Ten Story Fantasy for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 17:22, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine

The article A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine for things which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 22:23, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 8

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 8, August-September2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

• TWL now a Wikimedia Foundation program, moves on from grant status
• Four new donations, including large DeGruyter parntership, pilot with Elsevier
• New TWL coordinators, Wikimania news, new library platform discussions, Wiki Loves Libraries update, and more
• Spotlight: "Traveling Through History" - an editor talks about his experiences with a TWL newspaper archive, Newspapers.com

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:51, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Uncanny Stories (magazine)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Uncanny Stories (magazine) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 22:03, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine

The article A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 22:03, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

GA Article reviews?

Hey, Mike. I need an experienced reviewer to do down-and-dirty GA reviews for three American swimmer articles. All three are newly nominated GAs (Catie Ball, Tracy Caulkins, Nicole Haislett) that are in pretty good shape and should require only a moderate amount of work to comply and be promoted. All three subjects are Olympic gold medalists, so there also should be a certain commonality regarding subject matter, sources, and potential GA comments. Do you have any interest in taking on this little package-deal project? I have also nominated a fourth article for Robert Cade, the primary inventor of Gatorade. Please let me know. Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 14:22, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Hi -- I'd be willing to take a look, but am out of town this coming weekend and don't know if I'll have any time on Wikipedia. If you don't mind when they get done, I've no problem in signing up for at least the first one, and then can probably do all three unless I have trouble with the review for some reason. It might easily be a week or two, or even longer -- I'm trying to do a couple more FAC reviews at the moment in return for having an article at FAC right now.

By the way, I just reviewed Oxford College of Emory University, and found I recognized some of the names such as Asa Candler from having read Andrew Sledd. I swear I feel like I learn more editing here than I did in class. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:26, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

No surprise. Sledd was very well connected in the American Methodist academic community that founded Vanderbilt University, Emory University, and Duke University -- all of which are now ranked among the top 25 universities in North America (and we have 100s). Sledd married into the Candler family -- the founders of the Coca-Cola empire -- so he knew the socially prominent side, too. If you want to see another example, take a look at John J. Tigert -- son and grandson of Methodist bishops, Rhodes scholar, football and basketball coach, university president, U.S. Commissioner of Education, and College Football Hall of Fame member. You don't typically find those lines on the same resume. I've always wondered if it were more than coincidence that Sledd and Tigert were both chosen to be presidents of the University of Florida. It would be great if the Tigert article could also be upgraded to FA status at some point. I'm waiting on an Amazon purchase of the out-of-print, but definitive biography of Tigert now, and will probably put some time aside over the Christmas holidays to revisit the Wikipedia Tigert article.

As for the GA reviews, I thought I would ask you for your help when I realized the wait list for GA review is now running months, not weeks. If you can get to them in the next month that would still be months ahead of when they will come up in the GA review queue. (BTW, have you ever noticed what a strange word "queue" is? Four consecutive vowels, with repeating "ue" occurrences back to back -- I can't even explain that in terms of its French origins.) Cheers. Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 09:42, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

OK, I'll see what I can get to. Yes, I had noticed; one of my hobbies is word puzzles, so I've picked up a lot of related trivia. Have you noticed that "queueing" is even odder, with five consecutive vowels? My favourite puzzle along those lines is from James Thurber, who thought of a word with three "u"s in it and asked a friend to see if they could think of it. The friend said they couldn't, and that a word like that must be unusual; Thurber said well, it was and it wasn't. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:43, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

*groan* ;) Protonk (talk) 12:06, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

• I was unfamiliar with the Thurber quote, but I will steal it now. LOL Dirtlawyer1 (talk) 13:42, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Rodent FAC

Mike, you kindly said you'd be back to take a look at the Rodent FAC when Ucucha supported the article. He's now done so provisionally - it seems he's busy; Cwmhiraeth and I have addressed all the comments he has made, and have proactively scanned all the sources for the comments he might have made. All the best, Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:46, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

I should be able to get to it in the next two or three days -- perhaps later today. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 13:09, 11 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Out of This World Adventures

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Out of This World Adventures you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 16:22, 12 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Uncanny Stories (magazine)

The article Uncanny Stories (magazine) you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Uncanny Stories (magazine) for things which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 22:02, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Uncanny Stories (magazine)

The article Uncanny Stories (magazine) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Uncanny Stories (magazine) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Zanimum -- Zanimum (talk) 22:42, 13 October 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Out of This World Adventures

The article Out of This World Adventures you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Out of This World Adventures for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Protonk -- Protonk (talk) 03:22, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

Your comments at Oxford College of Emory University's FAC

Hello Mike, thank you for your very detailed review of my article's featured article computability. I have addressed all of the issues that you pointed out, and also did my own copyedit of the entire article. I would appreciate it if you could go back and take a look at the article again, and if you have time, provide some additional comments. Thanks again! --haha169 (talk) 18:44, 12 October 2014 (UTC)

Hello again. Sorry to be so pushy, but could you kindly leave an update to your review? I have copyedited the entire article, and would appreciate it if you took another look it. Thank you! --haha169 (talk) 01:03, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

Hi -- no problem with nudging me again; you've every right to ask. I'd been hoping that someone else would comment, and I was planning to go back and take a look after that, but since it's been over a week I will try to get back to it this weekend, if not before (I have a couple of other obligations that may come up). If I haven't revisited by Sunday, please ping me again. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:35, 22 October 2014 (UTC)

Citing question!

Hello! I am a student in the Weber State University/CJ2300 Policing: History, Theory, and Practice this fall, and I am working on the Use of Force article. I was wanting to quote from Robert Peel's Principles of Law Enforcement, specifically number 6, which discusses the use of force. However, I am having a hard time finding the original source, since it is from 1829. Does it need a source, or at this point would it be considered "public domain"? Thanks in advance! Slarrab (talk) 18:10, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for October 31

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Strange Tales (pulp magazine), you added links pointing to the disambiguation pages Harry Bates and Mike Ashley. Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject.

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Special gopher request

Hey Mike. I'll take a peek at Cosmic Stories sometime this week. I also have an odd request. I'm looking for a book review from the November 1991 issue of Analog (specifically, this review). do you know anyone who would have a copy of that? Protonk (talk) 14:13, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

I do have it, but unfortunately most of my magazines are in boxes in the basement, and I've no way of knowing which box it's in. If you ever need to check if I have something you can look at this page, which is a public index of my collections, but until I get those boxes unpacked it's going to be academic, I'm afraid. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:27, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

New Wikipedia Library Accounts Now Available (November 2014)

Hello Wikimedians!

The TWL OWL says sign up today :)

The Wikipedia Library is announcing signups today for, free, full-access accounts to published research as part of our Publisher Donation Program. You can sign up for:

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Do better research and help expand the use of high quality references across Wikipedia projects: sign up today!
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Copyright checks when performing AfC reviews

Hello Mike Christie. This message is part of a mass mailing to people who appear active in reviewing articles for creation submissions. First of all, thank you for taking part in this important work! I'm sorry this message is a form letter – it really was the only way I could think of to covey the issue economically. Of course, this also means that I have not looked to see whether the matter is applicable to you in particular.

The issue is in rather large numbers of copyright violations ("copyvios") making their way through AfC reviews without being detected (even when easy to check, and even when hallmarks of copyvios in the text that should have invited a check, were glaring). A second issue is the correct method of dealing with them when discovered.

If you don't do so already, I'd like to ask for your to help with this problem by taking on the practice of performing a copyvio check as the first step in any AfC review. The most basic method is to simply copy a unique but small portion of text from the draft body and run it through a search engine in quotation marks. Trying this from two different paragraphs is recommended. (If you have any question about whether the text was copied from the draft, rather than the other way around (a "backwards copyvio"), the Wayback Machine is very useful for sussing that out.)

If you do find a copyright violation, please do not decline the draft on that basis. Copyright violations need to be dealt with immediately as they may harm those whose content is being used and expose Wikipedia to potential legal liability. If the draft is substantially a copyvio, and there's no non-infringing version to revert to, please mark the page for speedy deletion right away using {{db-g12|url=URL of source}}. If there is an assertion of permission, please replace the draft article's content with {{subst:copyvio|url=URL of source}}.

Some of the more obvious indicia of a copyvio are use of the first person ("we/our/us..."), phrases like "this site", or apparent artifacts of content written for somewhere else ("top", "go to top", "next page", "click here", use of smartquotes, etc.); inappropriate tone of voice, such as an overly informal tone or a very slanted marketing voice with weasel words; including intellectual property symbols (™,®); and blocks of text being added all at once in a finished form with no misspellings or other errors.

I hope this message finds you well and thanks again you for your efforts in this area. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:20, 18 November 2014 (UTC).

       Sent via--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:20, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

citation question

I'm trying to place a cite a paragraph in the article from a source that has already been referenced. Using <ref name="Bellesiles"/> like it says to, isn't working. Any suggestions to cite my article on slave patrol!?CaityJanelle (talk) 04:27, 14 November 2014 (UTC)

I figured it out. I had to give a name to the original citation. Also, your solution, < ref ='slave_patrol_name' />, worked to place a citation that is already in the reference list. You just have to enclose it with apostrophes, not quotes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by CaityJanelle (talk • contribs)

--Signing so this will archive. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 02:59, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Strange Tales (pulp magazine)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Strange Tales (pulp magazine) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of J Milburn -- J Milburn (talk) 21:42, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Beach Thomas FAC comments

Hi, I've responded to your comments at the FAC but my responses include a couple of queries. - Sitush (talk) 01:07, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

I've updated my comments there. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:28, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for your help throughout the development of this article. Whether or not it is promoted, your input has been invaluable in my development. - Sitush (talk) 02:23, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! That's a high compliment, and I appreciate it. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 03:54, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Strange Tales (pulp magazine)

The article Strange Tales (pulp magazine) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Strange Tales (pulp magazine) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of J Milburn -- J Milburn (talk) 20:42, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Not a wikipedia article...but you'll like it

"Failure at the Archives", an interesting look at how blind spots appear over time due to politics, neglect and error. :) Protonk (talk) 19:01, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Very interesting. Thanks for the link! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:09, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Two Complete Science-Adventure Books

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Two Complete Science-Adventure Books you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of J Milburn -- J Milburn (talk) 19:42, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

FA congratulations

Just a quick note to congratulate you on the promotion of Science Fiction Quarterly to FA status recently. If you would like to see this (or any other FA) appear as "Today's featured article" soon (either on a particular date or on any available date), please nominate it at the requests page. If you'd like to see an FA appear on a particular date in the next year or so, please add it to the "pending" list. In the absence of a request, the article may end up being picked at any time (although with about 1,287 articles waiting their turn at present, there's no telling how long – or short! – the wait might be). If you'd got any TFA-related questions or problems, please let me know. Bencherlite^Talk 10:44, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

FAC reviews

		The Reviewers Award
		Mike, I noticed you hitting the backlog pretty hard and giving those nominations at the bottom some much-needed attention. Thanks for all you do. --Laser brain (talk) 21:31, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Dude! You (both) rock! SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:33, 8 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you -- it's nice to be appreciated! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:58, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Texas Revolution

Mike, I see you're going to be helping with these ... I imagine most of the articles will go through Peer Review and I'll see the ones tagged for Milhist there, but if something needs copyediting and it's not at Milhist ... if I could ask a favor, could you ping me please? - Dank (push to talk) 17:18, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Sure -- I don't know what the timeline on these is going to be but I will try to remember. You might try pre-watching the peer review page, which would then pop up on your watchlist when it's created. That's probably going to be more reliable than my memory! Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 17:47, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

I'll do that. - Dank (push to talk) 18:04, 10 December 2014 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Two Complete Science-Adventure Books

The article Two Complete Science-Adventure Books you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Two Complete Science-Adventure Books for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of J Milburn -- J Milburn (talk) 21:41, 13 December 2014 (UTC)