Wikipedian Wanted!

Are you a Wikipedian? Then you may like to know that Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids (this website) is now “notable” according to Wikipedia’s standards.

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that allows anyone at all to create and edit articles. However, they have strict criteria defining what articles they will allow. Articles violating these criteria get quickly deleted – try creating an article about “John Doe” saying “John is the coolest guy in the world” and you’ll see!

They have articles about all sorts of topics, of course. People, places, websites, rock bands, animals and plants – every topic you might imagine. For some of these topics, they have to be a bit strict with their criteria. They don’t want a separate article for each of the 6-7 billion people in the world. Nor for each of the millions and millions of websites. After all, people don’t expect encyclopedias to have articles about everyone – only notable people.

But what does “notable” mean?

To answer that question, Wikipedia has what they call “notability criteria”. For a website to be notable, it must fulfil certain criteria. For example, if the website is the subject of multiple news articles with independent editorial oversight. this is enough.

Well, since last September, this has been true of Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids (even if only just!)

• The website was featured in the Malay Mail on the 1st of September, 2009.
• There was an article in the Post on the 4th of September, 2010.
• There was an interview on Curtin FM on the 21st of September, 2010.

That means that this website could have it’s own Wikipedia article. Of course, Wikipedia insists that the article be written from a “neutral point of view”. This means, since I’m biased, I can’t write it myself. So, I’m issuing an invitation to any Wikipedia out there who uses Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids on a regular basis. If you think Wikipedia would be a better place with an article about Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids, then…

• First of all, read the articles and listen to the interview.
• Then, hop over to Wikipedia and start the article on Dr Mike’s Math Games for Kids – or improve it if someone else got in first.
• Finally, drop me a line here or here or in a comment on this blog post, so I know who to thank!