Talk:Michael J. Larsen

Independent sources
I added a tag indicating that this article needs citations from sources independent of the subject, since most of the sources are IU-affiliated and thus by extension affiliated with the subject. CapitalSasha ~ talk 04:25, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * You have a strange definition of "most". One of the five sources (not counting the links to the selected publications) is directly from his employer, and one is from a club sponsored by his employer. The student newspaper, the math genealogy, and the Putnam sources are all independent. Do you seriously question the truth or verifiability of any of this information? Reverting. —David Eppstein (talk) 04:47, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I didn't consider that the student newspaper would be independent of the university, but you are right that it is. I certainly don't doubt that the information is true, but the article could benefit from more independent coverage. The Putnam page and genealogy links provide little information besides the facts of his award and of his education, and the coverage in the student newspaper is similarly brief. CapitalSasha ~ talk 05:08, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * You haven't spent much time trying to source articles about living academics, have you? This is a lot more than we often get, even for someone unquestionable notable by the relevant standards (which he is, because of his distinguished professor title). But there are a few thousand citations to his work in Google scholar, if you're looking for more third party sources about his accomplishments. —David Eppstein (talk) 05:19, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Fair enough, I hadn't realized that WP:PROF actually superseded the requirement that the subject be the topic of significant secondary-source coverage. CapitalSasha ~ talk 16:35, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * There are differing opinions on whether it supersedes it or restricts it. As I say, there are thousands of secondary sources about his accomplishments, but they're mostly of low quality (incidental citations as part of research papers about other topics) so it depends on whether you think those should count. —David Eppstein (talk) 17:31, 17 August 2012 (UTC)