Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Promise of Eden: the Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West 1856-1900


 * 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 Merge a brief discussion of the book in the bio of Doug Owram. JERRY talk contribs 23:21, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Promise of Eden: the Canadian Expansionist Movement and the Idea of the West 1856-1900

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30 year old textbook of dubious nature. Work was a publication of a doctoral student. WP is not self promotion. mitrebox (talk) 06:18, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

Promise of Eden is actually considered one of the definitive books on the Canadian expansionist movement, and set the tone for decades of research in the field. Doug Owram, although a doctoral student when writing the book, went on to a significant career as a historian at the University of Alberta. I am unsure where the notion of 'self-promotion' was evident in the article. I feel the article, although obvioulsy in its early stages, should not be deleted. Wheateater (talk) 06:24, 1 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Comment. At this time, it's difficult to make a determination about the notability of this particular book, though if it set the tone for decades of research, it shouldn't be hard to find sources that mention it.  Until that time, most of the article's text would seem to be a nice addition to Post-Confederation Canada (1867-1914), one of the History of Canada series.  This does not appear to be a textbook, FWIW.  One of these days, I may get around to writing an article about Marjorie W. Hamilton's Pirates and Pathfinders, a right peculiar textbook I studied in grade school in Canada, many years ago.  - Smerdis of Tlön (talk) 15:00, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Merge into Doug Owram.-- brew crewer  (yada, yada) 21:11, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Listed at WikiProject Academic Journals/Deletion. —David Eppstein (talk) 06:06, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

30 year old textbook of dubious nature The work of a doctoral student WP is not self-promotion 198.166.246.37 (talk) 16:31, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The age of the book has no bearing whatsoever on its inclusion/exclusion in WP. It is not a textbook, it is a study.  Dubious nature is hard to qualify.  If the University of Alberta in Edmonton has more than 15 copies of the book in its holdings, can it be that dubious?
 * When writing a thesis, an academic engages in innovative and new research. All academics 'cut their teeth' so to speak by researching their thesis. Again, this shouldn't be a reason to exlcude a book.
 * I doubt Owram wrote this article. That one doesn't make sense.
 * Merge a brief discussion of the book in the bio of Doug Owram. He's written other important books, and that would be the place for a paragraph on this one. We usually do not list individual academic books unless they are truly exceptionally notable.I support very strongly articles on academics, but I dont support expansion of our coverage very far into articles on individual works. DGG (talk) 15:13, 5 February 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.