Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Frank Irving Herriott


 * 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 keep. Star  Mississippi  18:54, 13 June 2022 (UTC)

Frank Irving Herriott

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

Biography of an academic and educator, not reliably sourcing any strong claim to passing our inclusion standards for academics. The notability claim here essentially boils down to "he existed as a person who had jobs", with no real evidence presented or sourced as to why his work in those jobs would be significant enough to warrant coverage in an encyclopedia, and the only "source" listed here at all is a university research database from which some of this article's text was purportedly copied on "public domain" grounds -- but (a) copying text from another source, even if it's public domain text and thus not a copyvio, still isn't the same thing as referencing the content properly, and (b) the link doesn't actually lead to whatever document the text was copied from, but merely to the front splash page of the database itself, and even a search on his name in that database only brings up one history student's thesis paper, which isn't a notability-clinching source all by itself. Nothing stated here is "inherently" notable enough to exempt him from having to pass WP:GNG on the sourcing. Bearcat (talk) 16:33, 28 May 2022 (UTC) Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, ✗  plicit  11:06, 5 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: People and Academics and educators. Bearcat (talk) 16:33, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Iowa-related deletion discussions.  Spiderone (Talk to Spider) 16:36, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment. No opinion on notability, but he appears to have published mainly as "Frank I. Herriott", which gives 2 pages of hits in JSTOR and 26 hits in the EBSCO search, though on quick glance mainly his writings. Wikipedia Library finds a three-paragraph obituary (Notable deaths. Annals of Iowa, October 1, 1941, Vol. 23 Issue 2, p157-157), which covers many of the points in the article and might be the source. (Though it has a copyright notice.) Proquest finds a brief mention that a dorm at Drakes University was named for him in 1958, more than 15 years after his death  which speaks to local notability at least. A local newspaper search is likely to find more, but I don't have that subscription. Espresso Addict (talk) 18:33, 28 May 2022 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.


 * Comments - I think it's possible, based on what's been found so far, that he's notable per WP:PROF as an expert on Abraham Lincoln. What do others think? Bearian (talk) 17:13, 8 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Weak delete. Single-digit citations don't make a case for WP:PROF. Based on the comment above I looked on JSTOR but almost all the hits were for reviews by Herriott; I didn't find any reviews by others of books by Herriott that could have led to a pass of WP:AUTHOR. We do have one published obituary in an academic journal, covering him in-depth and calling him a "recognized authority" on the rise to prominence of Lincoln. It's only one source but maybe if there were more he could pass WP:GNG; that's why my delete opinion is weak. —David Eppstein (talk) 00:50, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep per WP:GNG (not PROF or AUTHOR) and the additional in-depth sources found below. —David Eppstein (talk) 01:10, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment Looks like he published at least 8 books. There must be reviews somewhere. Perhaps on something other than JSTOR? Thriley (talk) 02:13, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
 * As far as I can tell he wrote a number of long-winded journal papers in various state history journals that were reprinted as pamphlets. Are you sure you're not confusing him with Frank W. Herriott? —David Eppstein (talk) 06:52, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
 * No, I’m referring to Frank I. Herriot. I think they may be mostly books. Here’s one here: Thriley (talk) 14:36, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
 * That's one of those "long-winded journal papers reprinted as pamphlets". See the note on your link: "Reprinted from Deutsch-amerikanische geschichts-blaetter; jahrbuch der Deutsch-amerikanischen historischen gesellschaft von Illinois--jahrgang 1914 (vol. XIV)." Although maybe it's unfair to call it a pamphlet, given its length. —David Eppstein (talk) 18:40, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep. I agree that he probably doesn't pass NPROF/NAUTHOR, but I think there's enough here for a GNG pass. I found an extensive obit in the Des Moines Register (pt. 1, pt. 2) and a shorter one in The Courier (here) He's also discussed in this book, and his death even merited a brief mention in the Chicago Tribune. I'll try to add some of these to the article (and maybe dredge up some more material from Newspapers.com) in the morning, but, especially when we consider the Annals of Iowa obituary mentioned above, Herriott does seem to clear the GNG/WP:BASIC threshold, in my view. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 07:39, 12 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I've now rewritten the article to incorporate the newly discovered sources and to resolve any copyright concerns. I'd appreciate it if !voters would take another look and consider whether we now have enough sources for a GNG pass. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 00:32, 13 June 2022 (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.