User talk:Archivists Desk

June 2009
Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia. We appreciate your, but for legal reasons, we cannot accept copyrighted text or images borrowed from other web sites or printed material, and as a consequence, your addition will most likely be deleted.

You may use external websites as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences. This part is crucial: say it in your own words.

If the external website belongs to you, and you want to allow Wikipedia to use the text — which means allowing other people to modify it — then you must include on the external site the statement "I, (name), am the author of this article, (article name), and I release its content under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 and later, and under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribute Share-Alike."

You might want to look at Wikipedia's policies and guidelines for more details, or ask a question at the "Help Desk". You can also leave a message on my talk page.  Will Beback   talk    21:22, 15 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Please don't restore the copied information. If you want to make contributions to the project please use your own words.   Will Beback    talk    22:32, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

September 2010
Welcome again. Just a reminder that Wikipedia articles, including political biographies, need to be written with the neutral point of view and to based mainly on secondary sources. There are hundreds of biographies on current federal representatives, and thousands on past congressmen. Let's try to keep this article in line with those of his colleagues.  Will Beback   talk    11:03, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Same message again. Please stop adding excessively promotional material to the article.   Will Beback    talk    04:12, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Excessive editing
The editing to the Devin Nunes page was excessive. You removed every piece of major legislation and left nothing. Would you prefer that I remove this page? There has been inaccurate information on this page which I have been trying for over a year to remove. There has also been major legislation introduced by Nunes. I don't see this amount of editing to other congressional pages. Archivists Desk (talk) 18:48, 14 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for replying, at long last. Your only editing has been to the Nunes article, and you've done plenty of it. "Major legislation" should refer to legislation that has passed, not just bills that have been proposed. Fluffy comments about his book don't really belong either. I suggest picking a good biography of a Congressman with comparable tenure and using that as a template.   Will Beback    talk    22:16, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

I am prepared to work with Wikipedia to edit material. But I do not agree that the material removed was fluff or promotional in terms of content. Also the criteria for Major Legislation should not include if it passed or not. If that were the case, Paul Ryan's Roadmap couldn't be mentioned. I will change to Policies and Legislation.


 * Please see WP:OWN. The article does not belong to you. I don't know if you're Devin Nunes or if you work for him but if either is true then you should disclose that fact and edit in compliance with WP:COI.   Will Beback    talk    23:24, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

The issue is not ownership; it's accuracy. The entry before I started contributing to it had a number of inaccuracies, was not up-to-date, and was not useful for researchers. Everything has been thoroughly documented by me. My guide was other entries on Members of Congress. My contribution is not intended to be hagiography or iconoclasm. This is my first contribution. I plan to do others in the interest of scholarship. I appreciate your assistance.
 * Accuracy is important but it does not require adding lots of material. All that is required to fix inaccurate material is either to correct it or delete it. The issue with that article is that you keep adding over-long material extolling the subject's accomplishments. Can you point to another article about a member of Congress with a similar tenure which is as long and detailed as the one you're trying to create?
 * As for ownership, you seem to be unwilling to allow others to edit the article. Can you indicate what, if any, relationship you have with the subject of the article?   Will Beback    talk    21:44, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

I participate in Wikipedia as a hobby. I'm working on other contributions and have been trying to learn on this page before I start. Whether a contributor knows a subject or not is irrelevant; though I hope contributors know something about their subject. Since I'm the only contributor that works regularly on this page, I welcome any help in creating an informative page about Nunes. When I started this page was out of date. I don't want to read a publicity piece either. I am very much aware that Wikipedia biographies are widely used now, and try to be careful with my contributions. Unfortunately, most of the other contributions, other than by Wikipedia watchdogs, have been malicious, intentionally misleading, or wrong. For example, Nunes wasn't preceded by Bill Thomas; they actually served together. The 21st District was new when Nunes was elected. The district was created from three other districts; therefore, Nunes was technically preceded by three other Members, all of whom served with Nunes. Many people read this and were given an inaccurate description of redistricting. There were others like this, including inaccurate information about the Republican primary in 2002. All this has been documented. You can also see malicious and offensive comments in the history. Most arose during a famous Nunes interview on C-SPAN. Also, I added a couple controversial quotes by Nunes that were removed by others, who object to Nunes' politics. My view is, if people want an official biography of Nunes, they should go to the House of Representatives website; if they want a hostile biography, you can find them elsewhere on the Internet. The goal should be a balanced, accurate, and informative biography of Nunes.

Comparisons
Mike Thompson, Xavier Becerra, or Duncan D. Hunter. Short biographies which don't include every bill they've co-sponsored. Please restrain your enthusiasm.  Will Beback   talk    11:55, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

I will stop contributing to Wikipedia. I will end my account today. I told you I am independent. That should be the end of the story. I tried to create a balanced page. That's all.