User talk:Fiona Gell at The Leeds Library

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LeedsLibrary, good luck, and have fun. Pam  D  16:00, 19 June 2020 (UTC)  Pam  D  16:00, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

June 2020
If you are connected to someone or something you have written about (a few examples are writing about yourself, your business, your band, a member of your family, your client) then you should be aware that Wikipedia's conflict of interest guideline discourages you from writing about that subject. The main reason for that is that experience over the years indicates that editors with such a connection to a subject they are writing about are likely to find it very difficult, or even impossible, to stand back from their writing and see how it will look from the detached perspective of an outsider, so that they are likely to write in ways that look promotional to others, even if they sincerely think they are writing in a neutral way. Also, if your editing forms all or part of work for which you are paid, whether as an employee, as a contractor, or in any other capacity, the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use require you to state who is paying you, and what your connection to them is. JBW (talk) 11:14, 19 June 2020 (UTC)

Once again, sorry for having to throw so many rules and guidelines at you, rather than just letting you carry on editing in peace, but it is actually likely to be more helpful to let you know right away what the situation is, rather than leave you to carry on editing in ways which may lead to an administrator blocking you from editing. JBW (talk) 13:11, 19 June 2020 (UTC)
 * 1) Since receiving the above message you have edited again in a way which is contrary to the guideline on conflict of interest, and, more importantly, the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use. I don't see any problem with the content of your editing, but if you continue to ignore the requirements you may be blocked from editing by a Wikipedia administrator.
 * 2) One thing which I didn't mention in my message above is that a user account is required to be for one person acting in their individual capacity, and an account must not represent a business or organisation, as your user name indicates your account does. (Apologies for throwing so many policies and so on at you. In my opinion Wikipedia has over the years developed far too many policies and guidelines, and we would be better off returning to the far simpler and looser structure that Wikipedia started with. However, I have to tell you what the policies are, not what I think they should be.) You could create a new account for your personal use, and abandon this one, but it would help to make it clear that any future edits are from the same person as past ones, so you may like to keep this account and have its name changed. If you decide to do so you can let me know what new name you would like, and I can change it for you. A name such as "Annabel Smith at Leeds Library" would be perfectly acceptable, and would have the advantage of clearly showing your connection to the library at the same time as indicating that the account is for the use of an individual person. What you must not do is continue editing with your present name, as it violates Wikipedia's user name policy.


 * Hello JBW (talk), it's probably completely obvious that I have no idea how this all works so I can only offer my apologies. I was just checking our entry and noted there were a few errors so just wanted to update them. It was nothing major as you have noted just some factual info and a link. If you could change my user name to Fiona Gell at The Leeds Library that would be really great. I'm not even sure if I'm replying to you correctly. Hope this gets through. Best wishes, Fiona LeedsLibrary (talk) 16:38, 19 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Hallo, I was coming along to say much the same, having noticed your editing because Leeds Library is on my watch list (I've edited it from time to time, starting in Oct 2007). You might find it useful to read WP:ISU about user names which "Imply shared use" and also WP:SHAREDACCOUNT on the general point. There was an earlier account User:Leedslibrary1 which edited once in 2009 and 5 times in 2011, and never again or on any other topic, and I also notice that the article was started, in 2007, by User:Enghes who made 7 edits that one afternoon and has done nothing since - I wonder whether they were members of the Library's staff in the mirks of time. Welcome to Wikipedia editing, please stay around and edit other articles - if you have ready access to all the glories of the Leeds Library then you are very well placed to contribute especially on Leeds topics. Happy Editing. Pam  D  16:44, 19 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Hallo again, I see that you're the Marketing & Comms Officer of the library, so you need to read WP:PAID and make appropriate declarations, preferably both on your user page and on the library's article's talk page. Wikipedia's rules have to apply to lovely charity Good Things like the library just as they would to a company, politician, or rockstar. Pam  D  16:50, 19 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Absolutely no apology needed. Most of us when we first edit Wikipedia "have no idea how this all works", and when I started I did a lot of things that I later realised were not in line with how Wikipedia works, so I certainly don't blame you in any way. I also repeat that, as I said above, I see no problems with your editing: you just made some perfectly uncontroversial updates or corrections. Really you have been caught by policies and guidelines designed to deal with editors of a very different kind, who unfortunately do cause problems. Nevertheless, to avoid any possible problems, you should make sure you comply with those policies and guidelines, including disclosure of paid editing. Unfortunately I have no way of knowing whether you will read this message. It may be that, like the earlier accounts that has mentioned, you will never come back and edit again. However, we are going to have to assume that this message has been read, and that therefore the staff of the Leeds Library is now aware of the relevant policies. That means that any future account that edits on behalf of the library is likely to be treated on the basis that the policies are known, and so the account may be blocked from editing without any further warning, and any edits it has made may be reverted, no matter what kinds of editing they may be. I know that may seem unreasonable, but the only alternative would be to sit back and allow editors to ignore policies, and just create new accounts every time an old one has been informed of the situation. Naturally I hope that won't happen in your case, since, as I have already said, I don't see your editing as in any way problematic, but as PamD has said we do have to apply the same policies to everyone.
 * Of no significance or importance at all, but just out of interest, if you ever do come back and read this message, is your Library still above W H Smith's? JBW (talk) 11:35, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

Hello JBW JBW (talk) and PamD Pam  D. Thank you so much for your help and advice. Wiki editing is all new to me and I have no experience of the coding aspects that are evident all over this page so it is, very definitely for me, another language! JBW - we aren't exactly over WHSmith, more to the side of it. We are on Commercial St, next to Paperchase and the Co-operative Bank, and we are on the floor above them. We own that whole building and those two shops pay rent to us. If you are ever in Leeds, and when we are able, you'd be very welcome to visit us and have a look around, likewise Pam. Also, Pam, I used to work in Special Collections at the Brotherton and I'm a Librarian by qualification so my heart is very much in the profession. I've gone sideways into marketing, comms and events but wonderfully have managed to combine all of those things in this job! I will read the guidelines you have suggested and make the appropriate declarations. If I get into a tangle, I'll come back to you for help. Many thanks, Fiona — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.19.240.54 (talk) 13:46, 22 June 2020 (UTC)

Account renamed
Hi, Fiona. As you can see, I have renamed your account from "TheLeedsLibrary" to "Fiona Gell at The Leeds Library", as you requested. JBW (talk) 11:51, 20 June 2020 (UTC)

Editors from Leeds
I notice with interest from reading the user page of PamD, who wrote to you above, that she is a retired librarian who once lived in Leeds, so you and she have that much in common. I have never been a librarian, but I did live in Leeds for seven years. JBW (talk) 11:57, 20 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Indeed - 26 years in the University library. And I was chatting here on Wikipedia the other day to a new editor whose username implies that they are from the Uni library currently. There are a lot of librarians, both current and retired, editing Wikipedia. Pam  D  20:17, 20 June 2020 (UTC)