Talk:Aconitum columbianum

Reference suggestion

Handbook of Northwestern Plants by Helen M Gilkey and La Rea J Dennis mentioned this aconitum species. On page 145. Permalearning (talk) 04:16, 1 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Are you not comfortable adding information to the main space article? I notice you have make other reference suggestions in talk pages without making edits to the associated article. It also looks like you are copying the text from the book. If so this would violate Wikipedia:Copying text from other sources. Do you need some help with learning how to edit? MtBotany (talk) 03:25, 4 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I was hoping to come to a concensus on what from this information might inform or change the original article. I didn't want to just change the article and offend whomever wrote it. I planned to wait for a while for any debate then make changes.

I do not think the bit I copied violates copyright because it was cited by author and book and not used in a way to profit, but a way to ask a question and educate.

The main place I'm struggling with changing things is learning to use the tags for reference and citations. I was trying to cite a book that was revised and had two authors and that got confusing. I could only ad one. Permalearning (talk) 14:25, 5 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Permalearning, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not offended when anyone adds more information or corrects one of "my" articles. Because even if I wrote it they don't belong to me, but to the whole world. So I want them to be the best possible resource. Maybe very slightly envious if someone writes something really well and I feel, "I wish I'd done that."

Even though it is short it does violate copyright. I see that it is an honest mistake, but there is a specific policy about this issue because wikipedia has to keep on the right side of the law so as to not get sued by the occasionally aggressive copyright holders. Since the Handbook of Northwestern Plants is in copyright we cannot do things like this.

Because it is scientific facts that are being describe in books like this rewriting into our own words fixes the problem.

In this case I would write something like, "Aconitum columbianum is a herbaceous perennial that grows from a large tuber like root." I sometimes will expand on what is meant by herbaceous and others I'll just link to the article herbaceous plant. Less work to link, but if something is going to be a popular article I want to explain more for the less botanically literate. MtBotany (talk) 16:29, 5 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Also, if your Handbook of Northwestern Plants is the 2001 revised edition your citation would look like this in the plain text editor rather than the visual editor (switch using the pencil icon upper righthand):

<ref name="NWHandbook">{{cite book |last1=Gilkey |first1=Helen M. |last2=Dennis |first2=La Rea J |title=Handbook of Northwestern Plants |date=2001 |publisher=Oregon State University Press |isbn=978-0870714900 |page=145}}</ref>

I usually edit using a desktop browser so forgive me if I'm a little awkward about giving instructions about how to use mobile editing. MtBotany (talk) 17:40, 5 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I did the first part of a revised description leaving the flower part of the description to be done, if you would like to do so. I think I have the reference correct. Let me know if it looks wrong to you and I'll fix it. If you need talking through things on a Telegram or iMessage call I'm available after 1830 MDT.

I hope that you might come to enjoy editing about plants. Right now you're in the "everything is new and hard" stage of learning a computer system and way of semi-academic writing. MtBotany (talk) 19:38, 5 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]