Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Malta University Historical Society


 * 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. Note the extended comments about improvements in the later part of the discussion. Note from closer: Nice save, well done. j⚛e deckertalk 00:30, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Malta University Historical Society

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Tagged for notability since Sept 2013 and an orphan, this Society sounds like any other club or society on campus. Being "one of the oldest" doesn't make it notable. Non notable IMO Gbawden (talk) 09:30, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Europe-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:17, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of History-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:17, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Organizations-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:17, 16 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Schools-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:18, 16 July 2014 (UTC)

*Delete -- It is a rare undergraduate society that is notable. Peterkingiron (talk) 17:13, 19 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Comment -- Well it is a rare undergraduate society that produces an academic journal. this recent news link covers funding for the forthcoming 2015 issue of Storja, the journal, which can/should be covered here rather than in a separate article.  And I am not sure that it is just undergraduate.  With discussion of the journal itself, could this be a combo article that is valid?  Try:
 * I note that per WorldCat (tho i am not sure this is a public link), the journal Storja is held at Columbia University, at the New York Public Library, in the Library of Congress, at the unversities of Cambridge and at Oxford, and elsewhere. -- do ncr  am  03:28, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Some sources found include from editors of Storja itself (not independent coverage establishing notability, i understand, but probably accurate on non-controversial facts about the history of the Storja journal itself):
 * this Storja 2003-2004 editorial on 25 years of Sorja
 * this Storja 98 piece
 * Storja 96 piece on being re-born
 * And there is an index to Storja articles at http://melitensiawth.com/Storja.html; that doesn't seem to include recent issues so I think not all of Storja is online.
 * -- do ncr  am  04:00, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
 * And here's one publication citing one article in Storja: http://www.reocities.com/HotSprings/2615/medhist/management.htm, for what that is worth. -- do ncr  am  04:14, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
 * And here's one publication citing one article in Storja: http://www.reocities.com/HotSprings/2615/medhist/management.htm, for what that is worth. -- do ncr  am  04:14, 21 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep. Based on what I found, it seems to me that a combo article about the student society (which is both undergraduate and graduate) and the academic journal Storja (creating as a redirect now) which the society edits and publishes, is wikipedia-notable and should be kept.  Others can disagree, but it is unusual in my view for a student society to produce an academic journal, which is a big undertaking, requiring funding for printing and serious work.  Storja has been published in multiple issues over 30 years, and is continuing with a 2015 issue funded and presumably forthcoming.  The society and/or the journal were founded by professor Andrew B. Vella, and it has survived at least one transition to another principal advisor (Vella is deceased).  Another "Vella", perhaps Andrew B. Vella's father or other relative, appears in academic lit searches on "Malta" and "storja", in non-English language articles apparently on Malta history that have titles often starting with the word "Storja", which I surmise might mean "history" or "stories".
 * I rather think that any student-published academic journal, at least which has survived past 1 or 2 issues, is likely notable, as it is such a big and unusual undertaking. There exist only a relative handful;  the Michigan Law Review is one definitely notable one, and perhaps there are others in List of law reviews in the United States.  Currently there is no List of student-published academic journals and there is not yet a Category:Student-published academic journals (though I will create the latter, i would be happy for it to be renamed if there is a better name and this could be discussed in a CFD) (UPDATE: There is Category:Academic journals edited by students, which i will add to this and to the Michigan Law Review article).  I mean to assert notability of academic journals, i.e. student-edited and published on an academic topic, even if wholly or mostly from one university, and not to include student-published literary journals such as collections of poetry and short stories from students within one or a few universities.  Some might consider the contents of Storja issues to be somewhat low-level and somewhat inconsistent;  I submit there are plenty of non-student journals that are such, or considerably worse.  If a student journal only completed one or two issues, I would tend to think it should not have a separate article, but rather be a redirect to a list-article of student journals or a redirect to a university article's section about student activities (if there is coverage there about the jourrnal).  This Malta University Historical Society and its Storja journal, however, have survived 30 years, have multiple issues, and are ongoing, and seem unusual and merit coverage.  And there is more material available in sources cited (largely their own articles and editorials, I admit, but reliable enough for basic facts) than is appropriate for just an item in a list-article.  It would be nice if there were more outside coverage identified, but there is likely to be more with its 2015 issue, too.  So, Keep and let it be developed!!! -- do  ncr  am  21:42, 22 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, – Davey 2010 •  (talk)  01:26, 24 July 2014 (UTC)


 * (Changed vote)Keep -- This is clearly more than a typcial student society. I note that the government is funding the publication of Storja, which presumably means that the government thinks that the journal is notable.  Malta is only a small country, so that it could be that this is the only national academic journal on its history; if so, the journal is cealrly notable.  Accordingly we need an article either on the journal or its parent society, and the later is better.  The article needs to be expanded to explain mopre of the significance of Storja.  Peterkingiron (talk) 16:23, 26 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep per WP:HEY and the sources found. This stub still needs a lot more editing work. Bearian (talk)
 * 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.