User:Dpbsmith/schools

My opinion on inclusion and deletion of articles on secondary schools

With secondary schools, the burden of proof should be on the writer to show that the topic is notable by the inclusion of suitable material when the article is first posted.

In the case of a topic that is intrinsically encyclopedic, there is some value in posting a stub as a placeholder and a stimulus to get the ball rolling. The person posting the stub may have good reason for believing that the topic is encyclopedic, but not have the depth of knowledge to write a good article, and may post a stub in hopes of stimulating some other person to carry the task on.

But in the case of a high school, the first poster is likely to know more about the topic than anyone else who is going to come along for some time. If he knows something interesting about the school, he should say it right off the bat. If it's just the school's location and slogan, the contributor should be politely informed that the article is not up to Wikipedia standards and has been deleted, and that he is welcome to resubmit it if he can add enough to it to justify its inclusion.

Not very much should be needed—an alum or two of encyclopedic notability; notable architecture (especially if a photo is included); any connection with a significant news event. But there should be something, and it should be present in the article as initially inserted.

Bare stubs that include nothing genuinely interesting or noteworthy that would distinguish the school from thousands of others should be deleted. It's not as if it is much of a burden to reinsert an improved version later. Dpbsmith 22:24, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC)