User talk:Margolensis

Hello, Margolensis, and Welcome to Wikipedia! Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking or or by typing four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your username and the date. Also, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field. Below are some useful links to facilitate your involvement. Happy editing! SwisterTwister talk 15:57, 18 May 2012 (UTC) Getting started Introduction The five pillars of Wikipedia How to edit a page Intuitive guide to Wikipedia Finding your way around Table of contents Department directory Editing articles How to develop an article Manual of Style Getting help Frequently asked questions Cheatsheet Where to ask a question Help pages New contributors' help page Article Wizard – a Wizard to help you create articles How you can help Contributing to Wikipedia Community Portal Join a WikiProject Follow Wikipedia etiquette Practice civility

Hi!

Hello! Margolensis, you are invited to join other new editors and friendly hosts in the Teahouse, an awesome place to meet people, ask questions, and learn more about Wikipedia. Please join us! Rosiestep (talk) 03:13, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

References

In your biography of Homer Baird Kidwell, you entered one citation as:

Peahl, Larry. Taft Chronology History. Unpublished. 41. Print.

Unfortunately, if this work is unpublished, it is not publicly available and cannot be used as a references. Cited sources must be publicly available (not necessarily easily available, but available enough so that an independent editor could access the source in a reasonable public place such as a library or magazine archive). A source that you hold privately is not valid, because we don't want every editor who wants to verify this fact to have to knock on your door to see the source. WikiDan61^ChatMe!_ReadMe!! 17:36, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

The source is technically unpublished, but it is publicly available in the archives of the Taft College Library. If I insert a note to that effect, would that correct the problem?

Hello, Margolensis. You have new messages at Margolensis's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Re: User talk:Margolensis#References

Hello, Margolensis. You have new messages at Margolensis's talk page.
Message added 17:52, 22 May 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

The source by Larry Peahl is technically unpublished, but it is publicly available in the archives in the Taft College library. If I add an extension to the citation to that effect, would that correct the problem?

--Margolensis Margolensis (talk) 17:52, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

If it is unpublished, I would question its validity as a reliable source as there is no evidence that it has undergone any kind of editorial review. That being said, your solution of noting the availability of the document should address the "publicly available" objection. WikiDan61^ChatMe!_ReadMe!! 12:32, 23 May 2012 (UTC)