The aim of the present entry is form the basis for a user's guide about how to write good PM entries. Both in view of content and copyrightwise.
Choosing topics
If you are a professional mathematician, or a full time student there is surely small problems that pop up when reading mathematical works. These can form an ideal source for good topics for PM entries.
A few things to keep in mind
- Avoid too esoteric topics. Changes are, they will be of little use.
- This is an encyclopaedia and should contain math that is well established, not the latest research.
- The first draft does not need to be perfect. PM has plenty of users. Over time (months, years) the entry will expand.
- Currently PM resembles the Cantor set; it is full of holes. These gaps provide an endless source for new entries.
Copyright issues
See
Citing
Keep in mind that under the FDL, the next user might remove all citations.
When is citing good
- For a treatment of the case when X is a Banach space, see [1]
When is citing bad
- An entry full of citations will be difficult to maintain.
Merging entries
Copying text and pictures from other entries
Writing entries based on forum discussions
Writing entries based on an Wikipedia entry
Writing entries based on public domain text