User:DGG

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I'm a librarian, among other things, and I claim the traditional ability of librarians to help users in subjects they know little about.
What I do know something about is scientific publishing, and libraries and higher education in general. Once upon a time I also knew something about molecular biology and about evolution.

My professional bent has been to look for nonsense or contradictions, whether in contracts, advertisement, alleged facts, or argumentation. I think that perhaps I have found here my destined home, for I see more than I would ever have imagined. Not all of it seems curable, but I expect to upgrade some of the librarianship pages, and some of the higher education ones, and perhaps some of the publishing ones.

Eventually, I may then have a look at some of my hobbies--medieval history, 18th century English literature, the history of religions, the history of biology. Plus, as librarians & the rest of us do, whatever I happen to come across.

1 How I communicate
2 How I work
3 biases
4 List of geneticists
5 Signpost
6 -

[edit] How I communicate

I post my email, and prefer that you use it, because I think it's better to argue in private. It's easier to reach compromise, and I'd prefer to do things that way. But I'll use the article talk pages like everyone else seems to do, with the user talk pages if subsequently needed. (I think it simpler to respond on the page that the question was asked).

[edit] How I work

On a page new to me, I'll ask before I edit to any significant degree--if nobody responds, then I will go ahead. I generally wait a week.

If anyone who knows less than I tries to lecture to me, I know a good many of ways of responding, (or ignoring), and I have no hesitancy in using them. But when someone knows more, I want to be taught. If I'm wrong, I say so. I'd rather get things right, than get them my way & wrong. For some things, there are several alternative right ways, but there will also be several altenative wrong ways.
If I adopt too much of a lecturing tone to others, I hope they alert me, because it usually wasn't intended. I've taught biology, and librarianship, and the manner stays with you.

I have never been able to spell; I now rely on Firefox 2.0, which seems to have improved matters. If I've made a typo, just fix it, please--don't lecture me about it, for it won't do any good. Other people make typos too, and if I notice them, I fix them quietly.

[edit] biases

(Irrelevant because I can fairly present all positions, as I think the other side , although wrong, may be intelligent): very strong political views, and very definite religious ones, (relevant because I have difficulty keeping an open attitude as I think the other side is generally not intelligent, and is determined to remain untaught), and I therefore usually avoid on WP: a distaste for quack anything: medicine, science, psychology,... (relevant because it will affect what I say here, but only on the talk pages) a very strong dislike for deciding matters by technicalitie, reasonnable definitions of "sources"

i do not attempt to convert my opponents--I aim at converting their audience.

[edit] List of geneticists

You asked: "Where are you getting them from? categories? ....I ask because it may serve as a example for the other such lists."

Thank you for contacting me (twice). I will try to relate my method (or methods) for developing the list of geneticists that I am in the process of assembling:

First, I am checking all the names on the automatic category listing of geneticists for suitabilty of inclusion in the list of geneticists.
Second, I am going through the online archives of genetics journals in search of obituaries of prominent geneticists. (An example is the American Journal of Human Genetics.)
Third, I am looking for geneticists of renown in the Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. (This is an extraordinarily useful source of online biographical material for scientists of all kinds from around the world.)
Fourth, I network from one geneticist to the next. Networking is of critical importance. (To take an oversimplified example, I go from James Watson to Francis Crick and then to Maurice Wilkins who shared the Nobel Prize with them.)
Fifth, I google for missing information such as birth and death dates, nationality, achievements, etc. and try to fit all the information about one person on one line, if feasible.

I do have some personal acquaintance with the world of genetics (see my user page), and that helps, too. ==speedy==

To mark

Adding any deletion tag, such as {{d}}, to an article will list it here automatically. Usually, though, you would use {{db|YOUR REASON HERE}} to explain why it should be deleted. timrem 02:00, 5 December 2006 (UTC) (or the tags at WP:Criteria_for_speedy_deletion

To contest

If you are not the one who created the page and it does not meet the criteria for speedy deletion, or you intend to fix it, you can remove the tag, leaving an edit summary explaining why you are doing so. If you are the one who created the page, do not remove the tag. Instead, add {{hangon}} below the speedy tag, then explain on the article's talk page why you believe the article should not be deleted. After this, an admin will review the circumstances and decide if the article does or does not meet the criteria for speedy deletion. timrem 2