Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/David J. Whittaker


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   Nomination withdrawn (non-admin closure), as the nominator gallantly jettisoned his request for deletion. Ecoleetage (talk) 02:55, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

David J. Whittaker

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Does not at first glance meet WP:N. Curator of a museum and a professor at a university, the most notable thing he's done is contribute to the encyclopaedia of Mormonism - which I'm not sure is a claim to notability- it depends on how much he contributed. Chase me ladies, I&#39;m the Cavalry (talk) 16:48, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * First off, Whittaker is not a curator of a museum. He is over a large document collection.  Secondly, the most notable thing he has done is compile the largest bibliographty on Mormon subjects there is.Johnpacklambert (talk) 18:17, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * The article when I came across it didn't meet the standards for notability as far as I could see. I'm glad to see it's been improved, and I'm happy to withdraw the nomination, if no-one else has a problem with it. Chase me ladies, I&#39;m the Cavalry (talk) 19:57, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Keep, I have added mention of several of the works he was co-author of, and reviews of some of them.Johnpacklambert (talk) 18:35, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * I vote keep. There are more important Mormon historians, but he's certainly done more notable work than for the Encyclopedia of Mormonism.  BYU's library catalog lists his many registers of special collections and books on Mormon history, and some are now in the article.  His Studies in Mormon History (University of Illinois Press) and Mormon Americana (BYU Studies) are both authoritative and important Mormon bibliographies.  He's published in Mormon Historical Studies, the Journal of Mormon History, BYU Studies, and Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought.  The article doesn't cite his contributions and background in detail, but that can be added someday and I would like to know, should I ever read his work.  Rich jj (talk) 18:45, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

I will add some comments about difficulties and issues in developing a better article on the discussion page associated with the article.Johnpacklambert (talk) 18:58, 22 September 2008 (UTC)


 * keep and rewrite - David J Whittaker, the curator and associate professor does not at first glance appear to meet a number of the basic guidelines under Notability (academics). In answer to the question on how much he has written, his bio states he has written two of the chapters out of five in the cited encyclopedia (a google search would have helped the above argument). This is an effort, perhaps, to focus on his recent publications. A slightly more well-known David J Whittaker is a retired scholar who focused on international relations. Of course, we could also mention the David J. Whittaker who is a molecular plant biologist and has written several journal articles on the subject. Getting back to the BYU historian, it would seem that with a quick browse through of scholar.google.com, he is significant in his field (along with the other 2) with over 10 books/journal articles/etc. listed (note citations as well as individual publications). If anything, this article needs to be expanded since notability is not lost (he was more prolific when younger, hence the brevity of his current BYU bio) and two others written on the other David J Whittakers of note.--eleuthero (talk) 19:39, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, the reason that the BYU bio that you sight is so short has nothing to do with how prolific Whittaker has been of late. It has to do with the fact that most of his articles and other writtings have not appeared in publications controlled by the Neal A. Maxwell Center and its predecessors.  The "Author Biographies" there are not meant to be exhaustive, but only to direct you to the articles that you can through that site access the full text to.Johnpacklambert (talk) 19:43, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * In response to Eleuthero's comments about prolificness, Whittaker has produced several registers to specific collections that the L. Tom Perry Library has. I am not sure that these are worth mentioning, but this is where much of his energy has been exerted.Johnpacklambert (talk) 19:50, 22 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions.  -- Pete.Hurd (talk) 23:05, 22 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Living people-related deletion discussions. --Erwin85Bot (talk) 00:02, 23 September 2008 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.