[WikiEN-l] Disambiguation in the same category: the Butler priciple vs the Thomson principle

Tue Apr 5 18:21:42 UTC 2005

Kevin Rector wrote on 2005/04/05 18:26:

> I need some advice. What should I do when there are two people in the
> same category with the same name? For instance, if there were two people
> name Joe Blow and one was a soldier and one an author I could do
> something like this: Joe Blow (author)|]] and [[Joe Blow (soldier)|]].
> But what do I do if they are the same thing. 
> 
> Here's a real world example, there are two ice hockey players named Petr
> Sykora. They are both Czech, both have played in the NHL and both are
> notable enough for an article. Do I make the most notable (he already
> has an article) [[Petr Sykora]] and the less notable [[Petr Sykora
> (2)]]? If not, how do I handle this? Thanks.
> 
> -Kevin Rector

Wiki precedent seems to leave you a pretty free choice. The two authors 
named Samuel Butler are disambiguated like this:

[[Samuel Butler (1612-1680)]]
[[Samuel Butler (1835-1902)]]

But the two poets James Thomson like this, using respectively a principal 
work and a pseudonym: 

[[James Thomson (Seasons)]]
[[James Thomson (B.V.)]]

All four of them are quite notable. Either of these systems seems 
acceptable (I don't much like your 1 and 2 idea), even though the Thomson 
principle is kind of ad hoc. If you go with the Butler principle, assuming 
that your players are still alive, I suggest the format

[[Petr Sykora (b. 1980)]]

Bishonen