User talk:Carcharoth/Tolkien categories

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Looks like a very good list. One thing I note is that alot of the sections are pretty sparse. For instance, I don't think it would make sense to have a 'Linguists' category... there are lots of Tolkien linguists, but only a few who are 'notable' to the general public. Right now they are in the Middle-earth languages category, but could also/alternatively go into a 'researchers' category along with various authors of books about Tolkien. The parodies section seems best suited to a list of Tolkien derivatives somewhere. To that I might add this bit that I, David Salo, and many others worked on. --CBDunkerson 11:01, 10 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks. The list has expanded somewhat and gained notes on possible categories. I'd appreciate advice on the best way to put this material in Wikipedia, such as what is suitable for lists, or overview articles, or individual articles. I'm uncertain how to handle some of the more tenuous connections, such as the list of people (with Wikipedia articles) that Tolkien knew and who are mentioned in Letters and Biography. I fear I will meet resistance if I slap a Category:J. R. R. Tolkien on all those articles! Carcharoth 21:55, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Heh, yes I could see objections to Ava Gardner being in the Tolkien category. :] Possibly a 'List of people associated with J. R. R. Tolkien' or somesuch. I think the general category structure looks good. The 'Tolkien' vs 'J. R. R. Tolkien' bit will probably cause confusion, but seems workable to me. The smaller categories like 'Tolkien companies' I would just leave as individual articles under 'Tolkien'... there aren't enough to need their own sub-category. Though, you could call MERP a 'Tolkien company' too if 'Tolkien Enterprises' qualifies, and probably lots of other things. In reference to your aside about the notability of the Tolkien Usenet newsgroups - I'd say they are notable, alot of the internet research and resources on Tolkien came out of those newsgroups. I'd write an article about them, but as someone who was significantly involved it'd fall under WP:VANITY. Possibly there should be a 'History of Tolkien research' article which could include them. On the 'Tolkien scholars' category... I think it is a reasonable category name and mostly fits the people listed, but be prepared for possible fireworks. There are some people who consider themselves scholars or others not scholars... and let's just say it can get ugly. --CBDunkerson 22:40, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
 * Would you believe that last night, while scanning through Letters, I read the letter about Tolkien's meeting with Ava Gardner? Hilarious! As for the Tolkien scholars comment, I hope to make clear in the category blurb that it is a category for people who have published material on Tolkien, though actually, that fails to define it properly. I think you are right, I need another title. Maybe "Tolkien scholars, researchers and authors"? That should be broadly vague enough for people to be uncertain which they are included under. As for the newsgroups history, I could start it, as I didn't discover them until recently, but someone else would need to bring it up-to-date. I'm now going to add a semi-random list culled from Letters and Biography. I wonder how many red-links there will be... Carcharoth 07:37, 12 April 2006 (UTC)