User:Onel5969/rfc draft
One of the pillars of WP is WP:VERIFY. On the Roads project, editors are encouraged to produce text for route descriptions based on those maps. However, nowhere on those maps is there text of any sort, so editors are using the map and creating their own text, based on the map. The requisite reason they are using to do this is WP:MAPCITE, however, that is an essay. However, that states, "When describing the route of a waterway, mountain range, road, railroad, etc., a single map should not be used the sole source used to provide the description." In addition, WP:OR clearly states, "Do not analyze, evaluate, interpret, or synthesize material found in a primary source yourself; instead, refer to reliable secondary sources that do so." So, the question becomes, should we amend the WP:OR policy to allow editors to interpret the maps in order to create text, or should we strengthen the verbiage to explicitly prohibit it. As I see it those are the choices:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Modify the WP:OI of WP:OR to include a new section which states: "Source information does not need to be in text form—any form of information, such as maps, may be used to provide source information. Interpretation of such media is not original research provided that it is done in a routine manner observing any limitations usually associated with the medium concerned, and such interpretations are readily verifiable by anybody who has access to the same source." |
| 2 | Modify #4 at WP:PRIMARY from:
to
|
| 3 | Some other option? |