User talk:GVP Webmaster
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Hello, GVP Webmaster, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Wikipedia:Where to ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! --Darwinek 18:59, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] External links
I see you're putting links to your website into several articles. Your site is a useful one, and obviously not commercially driven, but please consider carefully which articles will benefit from it. For example, you added it to both Rangitoto Island and Auckland Volcanic Field. The placement in the latter article is great, as that's exactly what that area of your site deals with, but it doesn't add much to Rangitoto. I followed several links, with the map link looking promising but failing to load the UNAVCO map tool in either Firefox or Internet Explorer.-gadfium 20:36, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
- Hi there, You popped up on my watchlist and I thought I'd drop you a line, but it looks like gadfium has already said most of what I had in mind. I have two recommendations: (1) read User:Jmabel/PR for one user's well-thought out essay and (2) put something on your user page stating your affiliation and that you have read, and are abiding by, the relevant policies. It also turns your link blue, which is nice. Cheers, BanyanTree 17:11, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the suggestions BT. I do find it funny that two people 11 months apart find my adding a dozen links (to a valid and valuable site that meets Wiki rules) upsetting enough to write to me about it. If I had the time or interest to fix it, there is a huge volume of uncited volcano info on Wikipedia that was actually taken from the GVP website either directly or indirectly. But I'm almost never on here. If I popped on your watchlist for Home Reef, you may want to get a fuller story about at <http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0403-08=> under Monthly Reports. A follow-up report will get posted next week. GVP Webmaster 02:45, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
- It is a bit silly, isn't it? I hope that we sound welcoming. It's just that Jimmy Wales, the guy who started Wikipedia and has the final say, has basically taken the stance that anyone editing in a manner that might be construed as being public relations in nature may be blocked on sight. The guy who wrote the essay I linked above, which I agree with, thinks that is way too restrictive. Fortunately, Wales has stated this as his personal opinion, and not a decree as the Final Authority, so I'm happy to just advise users on your situation to be aware of the guidelines.
- I actually saw you at Tagabo Hills. I started that article a few months back as part of my editing about the Darfur conflict. I am the only person to edit it, so your edit made me wander over to see who else was working in the distant outskirts of the wiki. ;)
- More seriously, Wikipedia takes plagiarism seriously, as it directly affects the project's ability to be "free, as in speech". Wikipedia:Copyright problems has more info but, if you see chunks of text that have been ripped verbatim off your website, you are 100% encouraged to remove it immediately. An edit summary along the lines of "removing copyvio from (pasted link to SI page)" would be enough explanation. Rewordings obviously don't count as plagiarism in most cases. Let me know on my talk page if you do this and run into any problems. I imagine that some users don't realize that SI is not a U.S. government body, and thus the blanket government public domain license doesn't apply.
- If you feel that you would like to bump this up a few notches and have some examples, I would be happy to post the situation to some high-profile pages to see what others think. - BanyanTree 04:13, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
I'm not offended, just amused. I totally get the anti-PR stuff. Earlier this month a guy that really rips off our stuff to draw people to his volcano tour business got quickly blocked for spamming his links into a bunch of volcanoes, while deleting "competing" links like GVP. Much of the little I've done was cleaning up and standardizing links to my site that others had already put in. Adding an external link is a way to lead the reader to more info, without me putting in the time to duplicate stuff that we already publish and keep up-to-date. I suppose I could almost as quickly add it in as a cited reference in many cases.
Actually, SI is in an odd status with some aspects of government and some private. The stuff on the GVP site is created by US govt employees and is in public domain, though many of the photos have individual copyrights. So generally I'd prefer to just edit what I find to cite us or just add a link rather than make a big deal of it. We're an information service dedicated to the diffusion of knowledge, but getting proper credit is important so we can continue to justify our existence to maintain the only reliable database on volcanoes and eruptions.
I happened onto Tagabo while browsing the volcano lists that were reorganized since I last visited, and didn't recognize the name, so went to check it out. I was happy to see the link you already had there; just wanted to fix a typo and tweak it a bit. I'll have our database manager look into adding "Berti Hills" as another synonym.
Enjoy whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year! GVP Webmaster 04:57, 23 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Volcano names
Oh, my mistake. I'll change that after Christmast break. Thanks. — Indon (reply) — 10:06, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
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- I noted your message at Indons talk page - after my comment.
I am considering putting in all the entires, also known as Gunung... simply because of the reason given at Indons talk page - there are generations of tourists who have known the mountains from the guide books and tourist information as that. I do hope that the reason for this is sufficient;y explained and not in any way subversive towards GVP naming procedures. For me the importance of synonyms that might be found in the indonesian wikipedia is important, simply to try to keep links evolving and linking - rather than inventing new terminology that does not relate to local usage. I was involved in a protracted discussion about a number of issues that I consider no Javanese or Indonesian would ever think about in the terms used....
I am very pleased to see that you have a presence on wikipedia whoever you may be - I consider the GVP information to be excellent quality compared to some of the rubbish that I have encountered on the web in relation to a number of geological issues SatuSuro 09:17, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
