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RAP = Russell A. Potter
RAP: As I understand it, the idea of the ban on primary research is to avoid
publishing as established knowledge things which might possibly be a bit
uncertain or not 'established' fact.
Read More:
https://lists.purdue.edu/pipermail/citizendium-l/2006-October/000579.html
Russell & All --
The Wikipedia policy of "No Original Research" (NOR) -- as it was for most
of its existence until just recently -- proscribed a Wikipedia article from
being or becoming a primary source, not of course from using primary sources.
In the case of Wikipedia, but not necessarily in the case of Citizendium, this
"vow of intellectual chastity", so to speak, is necessary on two main accounts:
1. The fact that Wikipedia editors are allowed to use pseudonyms,
and are not otherwise vetted for their personal reliability as
sources, even when they do use their real names, means that the
quality of an article with regard to its grounds of verifiability --
apart from the common sense backgrounds of general information and
judgment -- is entirely dependent on the quality of its cited sources.
2. A more practical reason can be found in what are really some of the
most fundamental policies of the Wikimedia Foundation, the ones that
can't be edited by hardly anybody, to wit, the complex of fine print
disclaimers linked at the bottom every page. Here the first of them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer
According to people who tell me that they understand the legal details --
Disclaimer: I don't know enough to tell whether they really do or not --
the Wikimedia Foundation is disavowing any responsibility of publishing
actual content, and asserting that it is only the provider of a service
for other people -- this means you -- to do so.
As I understand the direction that Citizendium is supposedly headed in --
Disclaimer: And what the heck do I know? -- the above conditions will
not apply to Citizendium, at least, not in the same way that they apply
to Wikipedia.
So, please, somebody who knows, correct me now if I'm wrong about that.
Jon Awbrey
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inquiry e-lab: http://stderr.org/pipermail/inquiry/
citizendium development forums: http://smf.citizendium.org
http://www.textop.org/wiki/index.php?title=User:Jon_Awbrey
wikinfo: http://wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=User:Jon_Awbrey
wp review: http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showuser=398
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