Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Sydney Watson

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Sources look good now. Withdraw nom. (non-admin closure) Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 13:36, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Sydney Watson[edit]

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Couldn't find any third party sources for this church musician. The article doesn't have any citation at all. Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 11:56, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Bands and musicians-related deletion discussions. Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 11:56, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Music-related deletion discussions. Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 11:56, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Religion-related deletion discussions. Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 11:56, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Christianity-related deletion discussions. Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 11:56, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of United Kingdom-related deletion discussions. Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 11:56, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of England-related deletion discussions. Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 11:56, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Strong keep I don't know how an article can simultaneously have a BLP PROD and AfD applied to it. I have removed the PROD, as I have added references. I don't think a very thorough WP:BEFORE can have been done - two of the sources I have added are freely available on Google Books. The third is an obituary in The Times. Apart from having an OBE and therefore meeting WP:ANYBIO, he also meets WP:NMUSIC #6, having been organist and conductor of "two or more independently notable ensembles", Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and the Oxford Bach Choir. There are probably other criteria of WP:NMUSIC that he also meets - I have not yet searched journals and newspapers for reviews, etc. RebeccaGreen (talk) 15:38, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
RebeccaGreen, I had looked at Google News and on Google itself but I am getting hit for a different Sydney Watson. And there were no references on the article before the tag. --Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 18:51, 14 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Keep A clear pass of multiple notability guidelines, any one of which would have been sufficient for inclusion in the encyclopedia. I encourage the nominator to consider this AfD as helpful feedback on WP:BEFORE searches, and on the importance of WP:NEXIST. Thanks to RebeccaGreen for putting in the work yet again. Bakazaka (talk) 00:20, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Bakazaka, I did search for the user but I am not getting any hits for the person. Even the news search yield no results.

On a side note, now doing a re-search I found hits for https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SL9BDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA41&lpg=PA41&dq=Sydney+Watson+church&source=bl&ots=7B9yha5nIC&sig=ACfU3U0U_WIvAhTSNdOgujJbgRUqENb2sQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwik8pGn69DhAhXCThUIHZNZD9sQ6AEwCnoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=Sydney%20Watson%20church&f=false, which could be included in the article? --Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 00:27, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Since RebeccaGreen already added that source to the article, I'd have to say yes, that's a good source. Google and Google News have a strong bias toward online sources posted in recent years. For someone who died in 1991, searching other sources is more useful. I recognize that the minimum threshold in the WP:BEFORE guidelines does not always match up with the best way to find sources. Unfortunately, the result of this mismatch is that it is much easier to nominate than to source, the burden for sourcing falls disproportionately on a small subset of editors, and (in my opinion) the likelihood of burnout increases among some of our most capable colleagues. Bakazaka (talk) 00:45, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Tyw7, as Bakazaka says, Google News will rarely show results for anyone who died in 1991 (unless they had been in the news in the last few years). Google Books is more likely to show results for someone who has been dead for some time, and who is likely to have been written about. There are other Sydney Watsons, but this one, according to the article, was an organist, so I searched for "Sydney Watson" organist, which brought results about the right Sydney Watson towards the top of the list. WP:BEFORE suggests "The minimum search expected is a normal Google search, a Google Books search, a Google News search, and a Google News archive search; Google Scholar is suggested for academic subjects." From what you say, it seems that you did not search Google Books or Google Scholar, both of which are more likely to - and do - give results for someone who was active over 40 years ago. RebeccaGreen (talk) 08:25, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Keep--references prove notability.--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 01:50, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Keep per RebeccaGreen, Bakazaka and Epiphyllumlover. Mosaicberry (talk) 12:50, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.