 | This is anessay onnotability. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not beenthoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Just because a topic is of little interest to the general public does not mean Wikipedia should not include it. Also when writing articles about obscure topics Wikipedians do not have to consider the general audience. |
Anobscure topic is a topic that is only of interest to a small number of people, such as those in the subject's field, teachers, or fans. Obscure topics are perfectly welcome to have articles on Wikipedia, provided thatnotability guidelines are met.
Generally, we hope that each article can be easily read by the general audience and useful to a professional audience concurrently (seeWikipedia:What Wikipedia is not § NOT PAPERS andWikipedia:The perfect article). However, there are situations where topics the general audience do not need to know and would not ever understand, such asqubit field theory and many advanced topics in mathematical and natural science not mentioned in general university-level textbooks, e.g. general calculus university textbooks, but the professional audience may want them to be articles since they consider them useful or interesting. In Wikipedia they can be articles, but when the articles are written and editors try to let general readers understand them, they probably cannot have enough details to satisfy professional readers entirely. This is the reason that this guideline is established.
In circumstances where using layperson's terms and fully satisfying professional readers' needs are impossible or nearly impossible, editors shouldonly meet professional readers' needs and just let general readers know the significance of the field to which the topic belongs. However, if editors find out a way to use layperson's terms and fully satisfy professional readers' needs at the same time, this guideline should not be applied.
When an article meetsWP:N or any other guidelines for inclusion, the mere fact that its subject is obscure does not under any circumstances mean it should be deleted. See alsoWP:IDONTKNOWIT orWikipedia:NOBODYREADSIT.