Hi,

Do you have a source on the December 1993 date you gave for the Haystack Observatory website? I see a January 1994 announcement in NCSA What's New pages. If it wasn't widely announced in December, I'd recommend moving this to the 1994 section of the page. Battling McGook (talk) 20:28, 10 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hello,

I am an assistant director at Haystack Observatory. The source of the information is Dr. John Holt, the staff member who was directly responsible for activating the web site. How should that be cited? User: Pjerickson65 (talk) Pjerickson65 (talk) 21:14, 10 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia basically doesn't let experts come in and write up what they know, as that is considered "original research". Basically, Wikipedia requires published sources, and offers guidelines: WP:RS. The NCSA What's New is usable as a source (after finding it online somewhere), but it's considered a primary source which many people frown upon, preferring secondary sources. But in specific limited uses like this I think its fine as no conclusion is being drawn, plain facts are being cited. This all can be particularly frustrating when you're an expert in a particular area, and also for new wikipedia editors, but I think in the long run it's the better choice, because in most other contexts, individual experts tend to disagree significantly.

At any rate for the purpose of this wiki page, any news article or usenet posting indicating the site is live would be fine. I try to keep a close watch on this page because there's lots of false claims, and some attempts at advertising. At any rate, you could also just leave it, as no one else is likely to complain, and it's pretty clear that its likely to be true. Battling McGook (talk) 02:48, 11 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]