August 31, 2006

Wikipedia & John Dupuis

So, I'm ego surfing the other day, and, lo and behold, there's actually a Wikipedia article for John Dupuis! Wow, I must be really famous if someone out there went to the trouble of creating a Wikipedia article on little old me. Of course, the kicker is that it's not about me, but some other John Dupuis out there. (The article actually seems a little on the vanity side, but who am I to complain.)

That's all well and good, I can live with that. But, looking at the pages that link to that other guy's page, I see that a couple of Wikipedia references to me (the real me, that is) actually link to this other guy. The real me references are on pages such as my friend Mark Shainblum's page where he mentions the SF book we edited together; the Aurora Awards page where the award for that book is listed; a published alternate histories page refering to that book; and a list of people who've won literary awards but don't have a Wikipedia page.

So, what to do? First of all, I guess that I should go to the above mentioned pages and remove the links to this other guy's page that are about me. But can I have a no-page-exists link for a page that does exist, even if it's the wrong one? Can I make the other guy "John_Dupuis_(Musician)" when no other John Dupuis exists in the Wikipedia? Will someone else reestablish the links even if I do remove them?

I appeal to the collective wisdom of the biblioblogosphere to help me sort this one out. suggestions, anyone? Hey, John, if you're out there doing your own ego surfing, do you have any suggestions?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can always add yourself into the Wikipedia with the correct information.

John Dupuis said...

Thanks for the suggestion, Carrie. I've thought of that option myself, but it's not generally considered good Wikipedia ettiquette for a person to create an entry about themselves. Persumably the idea is that people shouldn't decide for themselves if they're notable enough for inclusion.