User:Ryan Postlethwaite/Admin coaching/J-stan/Tasks/Notability

The Notability guidelines are the major inclusion guidelines in Wikipedia. Basic notability principles dictate that subjects are presumably notable if reliable, independent secondary sources have discussed the subject directly in detail. These notability guidelines do not directly limit content, and failing notability guidelines is not in itself reason for speedy deletion; failing to assert the notability of the subject is. We have different notability guidelines for each general subject.

The first is for academics (sometimes called the Professor test). The criteria are that the academic must be held as an important expert in his or her field by secondary sources and other independent academics, has published a significant and well-known academic work (which is judged based on the works done on it, such as textbooks and other works), whose collective works are significant, who has pioneered an important new concept (which has been the subject of multiple secondary works), or who has been often nominated or has won an important award. If a professor meets any one of those criteria, they are definitely notable. However, a professor may not meet any of these criteria and still be notable. Notability requires objective evidence, such as substantial secondary reviews, or published peer recognition.

Literary works and films, act or fiction get a little tougher. In addition to satisfying Notability (books), Notability (films), and Notability (fiction), they must also satisfy guidelines such as What Wikipedia is Not and its sections dealing with pontificating, indiscriminately collecting information, and writing about anticipated works with little or no Verifiability. If literary works and fiction are the subject of multiple independent works, has won a literary award, has been adapted to a movie for wide release in commercial theaters or a television series, is the subject of multiple classes at a school, regardless of level, or the original author is such a notable historical figure that all his or her works could be considered notable, then they are acceptable for inclusion. Other things to take into consideration are that the book must have an ISBN number, be available in at least a dozen libraries, and be catalogued by its Country's national library. Self-publication should also be taken note of. Web content must be the subject of multiple non-trivial published works, the site or content must has won an independent award, from a publication or group, and is distributed via independent, respected media such as online publishers.

For musical ensembles (bands, musicians, DJs) the criteria that must be met are that it must be the subject of multiple secondary, reliable sources, has a charted hit on any national chart, has a certified gold (or higher) record in at least one country, has gone on a reported national or international tour, has at least two records released by a major label or a notable indie label (i.e. Fueled by Ramen, Dischord Records), is another project of a musician who was part of or later joined a notable band (non-notable side projects and early bands should redirect to the musician; if the musician is not in themselves notable, redirect to the band), has become the prominent representative of a stylistic or local movement, has been in the running for or won a major music award or competition, has performed for a film or television show soundtrack or theme song (or has been the subject of one), or is in  rotation on a major radio station. For composers and lyricists, the criteria is that they have written music for a notable artist, has written for a production in a notable theatre that had a reasonable run, has had a work that was the basis of a later work by a notable artist, has won (occasionally behind) a major competition not exclusively for newcomers, has been noted as the influence of a major composer, or is given reasonable note in a work published on their genre. An essay on this guideline has been written by User:Dihydrogen Monoxide.

I was personally surprised to find a notability guideline on numbers, but for the sake of assignment, I will interpret this. The first criterion that should be investigated in the case of classifications or sequences of numbers is whether or not professional mathematicians published works on this topic. The next step would be to check on whether sites such as MathWorld and PlanetMath have articles on the classification or sequence. Next, whether the classification or sequence has its own distinct name should be discovered (and possibly decided upon in the case of having more than one name). For sequences, one should check On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences to see if it's listed there. Now for individual integers, the rules become different. Individual numbers must have at least three interesting mathematical properties, it must have cultural significance ( i.e. being the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, etc.), and this could be checked by looking through publications cataloging interesting number properties. Irrational numbers have slightly different criteria; they must be listed in the OEIS, as with sequences, it must have works published about it, and there must be at least one commonly accepted name for it.

An organization is notable if it has received significant coverage by reliable secondary sources. Advertising is prohibited, and smaller, local organizations should comply with resource guidelines. Individual chapters of organizations are usually not notable and should start out as sections of the parent article, and if that grows too long, and general notability is demonstrated, it may be split. Articles on people have separate guidelines, an articles about living people must follow WP:BLP. Notability must be asserted within the article, and information must be verified with (say it with me, people) reliable secondary sources. Once the article has asserted notability, primary sources may be used for additional content.

Notability must be asserted in order to be kept on Wikipedia. Articles are deleted on an hourly basis because of AfDs, PRODs, and CSDs all dealing with notability. Without these guidelines, Wikipedia would have too many trivial articles. It is because of this that the inclusion guidelines are so strictly adhered to by editors.