User talk:Jim462

Hello, Jim462. We welcome your contributions, but if you have an external relationship with the people, places or things you have written about on the page Arthur Colborne Lankester, you may have a conflict of interest (COI). Editors with a conflict of interest may be unduly influenced by their connection to the topic. See the conflict of interest guideline and FAQ for organizations for more information. We ask that you:


 * avoid editing or creating articles about yourself, your family, friends, colleagues, company, organization, clients, or competitors;
 * propose changes on the talk pages of affected articles (you can use the request edit template);
 * disclose your conflict of interest when discussing affected articles (see Conflict of interest);
 * avoid linking to your organization's website in other articles (see Spam);
 * do your best to comply with Wikipedia's content policies.

In addition, you are required by the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use to disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution which forms all or part of work for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation. See Paid-contribution disclosure.

Also, editing for the purpose of advertising, publicising, or promoting anyone or anything is not permitted. Thank you. Melcous (talk) 04:36, 29 December 2022 (UTC)


 * I will do my best but it is sad to have to fight to persuade Wikipedia to be correct. For example, " he became a chief officer for the Government of India – a position he held until his death in 1963." That implies that he still had the post aged 95 and in any case the "Government of India" changed totally in 1947 with separation and partition. It is hardly likely that an appointment to an Englishman would have survived separation.
 * By the way, I thought that one of Wikipedia's policies was to be welcoming to newcomers. Jim462 (talk) 16:13, 29 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I don't think it is about "fighting to persuade", just being aware of and following the guidelines, which yes, as you say, include welcoming newcomers, as well as letting people know what the relevant policies and guidelines are. I have removed the statement about the position being held until his death as it was not well sourced, and as you say seems unlikely. If there is anything else in the article that is similarly unsourced and incorrect, please point it out and it can be removed. If you have additions to suggest, then please provide sources if you can. Melcous (talk) 16:19, 29 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I accept that "fighting" is wrong; perhaps "struggling" is better. If I am to correspond with you over each error and omission it will be a major struggle. I am glad that you removed the obvious error claiming that he worked until he was 95 years old but I do not believe that he was ever a "Chief officer of the Government of India"; he had one or two fairly short term jobs for the Indian Medical Service, but his major task was a 3 year appointment as Director of Medical and Sanitary services for Hyderabad. His employer there was the Nizam and not the Indian Government. Jim462 (talk) 16:43, 29 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I have left a list of some of the major errors and omissions on ACL's talk page. In particular the British Medical Directory (which should have been consulted before by editors) may be helpful.  I have left a list of some of the major errors and omissions on ACL's talk page.
 * As I have said before, getting this article sorted out looks as if it is going to be a major struggle. I repeat my previous statement that Wikipedia is meant to be welcoming to new users. Is there any way, in sorting this page out, that I could deal with a Wikipedia editor who takes is more helpful? Jim462 (talk) 17:25, 29 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Jim, I am wondering if the best thing to do would be to move the article to a draft, where it can be worked on further (by you and others), receive feedback, and then be reviewed before it is in the public main space of the encyclopedia. I think this is what the student editor should have done in the first place, given that there are significant errors. Let me know what you think, as I am happy to make that move - I didn't want to do it without letting you know though. It is certainly not any kind of reflection on your family member, but actually one of the best methods wikipedia has for ensuring that editors can collaborate and work together to make an article as good as it can be before it goes "live". (It can also be a way you as a family member can make changes within the conflict of interest guidelines because they would be reviewed by a non-connected contributor). Thanks Melcous (talk) 02:26, 30 December 2022 (UTC)
 * This sounds like an excellent idea. I am sorry to disrupt the students' work but some of the errors were just a little daft (eg ACL working at 95!) and he should really have consulted the British Medical Directory before producing a page about the career of a British doctor. Jim462 (talk) 09:17, 30 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Great, I have now made that move, so you will find it at Draft:Arthur Colborne Lankester and it can be worked on there. Thanks, Melcous (talk) 13:18, 30 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I do not know what is going on but ACL's page does not appear be a draft now. The page has numerous errors and obvious references (eg British Medical Directory and ACL's Times obituary) do not appear to have been consulted. Jim462 (talk) 16:38, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

User:Faizah01 should have moved it back but didn't. Drmies (talk) 16:42, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * I am not sure where to go next. It is a little frustrating that a student on the other side of the Atlantic can provide incorrect and incomplete information when I am limited by having a so-called conflict of interest. I also understand that ACL's autobiography is also regarded as being a COI. Why is the student not required to prove what he says? Jim462 (talk) 16:53, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * That's different issues. You're not forbidden from editing the article or the draft--Melcous linked to the COI page (and it doesn't say that), and actually made some really good points. The other editor is writing things up to the best of their abilities, I assume, so I'm not going to fault them yet, but it may well be that as a new editor, and as a student and beginning researcher, they simply don't know how to do things properly. Yesterday I had to explaining to a guy my age what secondary sources are--well, it happens. But rather than find fault, discuss motives, and philosophize over Wikipedia, we can just improve the article. Provide the secondary sources, write up the material, and we'll see if we can help. Drmies (talk) 18:05, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Many thanks for your comments. It still seems just a bit one sided. The other editor can say things that are not true and not properly sourced whereas I am cannot correct things because of my COI, unless the other editor says something obviously ridiculous such as the statement that my grandfather stayed working for the Government of India until he died - when he was 95 years old and India had become independent.
 * I am currently trying to collect as many sources as possible; this is something that I have not bothered with before as I had all the information that I needed from ACL's 220 page autobiography. Finding source material about Hyderabad in 1917 is not easy.
 * Being very new to Wikipedia editing, it is not clear to me how moving the page to a draft helps.
 * The page needs a number of corrections and many additions, and needs to be completely re-written in part. I am not sure how long an article is reasonable. Arthur Lankester's life can be broken down into a number of sections:
 * • Early life and education
 * • Initial missionary work in Amritsar
 * • Move to Peshawar and founding the caravanserai hospital
 * • Founding and managing the new mission hospital in Peshawar which still exists
 * • Enquiry into Tuberculosis in India
 * • 3 year appointment as Director of Medical and Sanitary Services for Hyderabad
 * • Return to England in 1920 where he worked as a GP & surgeon, was a local councillor, a lay reader and a JP.
 * (I am sorry about all this detail but I want to explain the range of material required.) I envisage using these 7 headings and providing an average of 5 lines of text under each of them. I do not know how many photos are reasonable. I would propose to use 3.
 * I appreciate your advice. Jim462 (talk) 15:48, 16 January 2023 (UTC)