Wikipedia:WikiProject LGBT studies/Lambda Book Report

Keeping gay history and literature alive, freely and anonymously, one byte at a time.

You don't know us, but you've probably read our words. When someone searches the internet on a particular author or book, we usually write the articles people read first. We are WikiProject:LGBT studies; a group of editors who create and improve articles pertaining to LGBT issues on Wikipedia. Anybody can edit Wikipedia, but it takes dedication to form articles of high quality and protect them. Some of us add most of the content to articles by researching and reading as much as we can. Some patrol articles endlessly to counter vandalism. Some argue policy to make it easier for articles to contain conflicting information about people, events, and works of art that are related to gay and lesbian interests. And some effectively battle with other Wikipedia editors who don't see the value of articles highlighting gay and lesbian issues. We have 171 members listed, but we vary in how active we are. We always need help from people who are interested, and if you are, a great place to start is any red link on Wikipedia's "Stonewall Book Awards" list.

All Wikipedia articles are rated for quality, and you can find the quality designation on the "discussion page", found with a tab at the top of the article. Article quality can vary from a short "Stub", "Start Class" with a few references and a bit longer, and "B Class" of higher quality. A peer review process is necessary to have the article declared a "Good Article" or an "A Class" article. Articles you see on the front page of Wikipedia are "Featured Articles" that must go through a more rigorous peer review process where other editors evaluate the article on prose, accuracy, sources, and style. There are 28 Featured Articles under the scope of LGBT studies.

While viewing an article's discussion page, you may also see heated arguments about the kind of information that can be included in an article. Due to some high-publicity vandalism of Wikipedia, its administrators developed a stringent set of rules for Biographies of Living Persons. Information that may be perceived as unfavorable such as sexual orientation, must be cited beyond question. In historical figures, this can be particularly frustrating when subjects, family members, or squeamish historians have obscured the truth. We have faced particular difficulty in James I of England, Eleanor Roosevelt, Merv Griffin, and James Buchanan, for example.

A recurring theme in the biographies of gays and lesbians we write is the constant search for more information. Where can people go to learn more when they have so many questions about sexual orientation? Wikipedia is available to millions of readers. It is among the top ten most visited websites on the internet. It is closely linked with Google so that articles we write anonymously and for free show up first, second, or third on Google results. Wikipedia is history and information, and its sometime lack of credibility is a disturbing illustration of just how tenuous our knowledge really is. We are trying to keep gay history and culture alive, from the most important people and events to the slightest reference, and place it on par of importance with any other aspect of information.

You can find WP: LGBT studies here, which can give you an idea of our mission and accomplishments so far: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_LGBT_studies