[Wikipedia-l] Disambiguation policy

Sun Jul 16 05:59:11 UTC 2006

Giuseppe DAngelo wrote:
> I've decided to ask this question here because I am interested in a more international perspective.  My query relates to the use of disambiguation.  Recently a survey was conducted to determine whether Syracuse should be a disambiguation page or whether it should link directly to the original Syracuse in Italy (creating a separate Syracuse disambiguation page for the others, as often happens).  Those who were in favour of it becoming a disambiguation page were overwhelmingly American, and had in mind the fact that Syracuse, New York is today a significant city.  Indeed, many were putting forward the argument that it should own the name outright because more google hits were looking for that particular city.  
>    
>   I think there is an issue here that goes beyond the original question.  Being an English language encyclopedia (and at the moment, the most international of all the wikipedias), it has to be asked how much such issues should end up being determined by the sway held by the largest group of native speakers (who, as it turns out, have both economic and technical clout).
>    
>   As it happens, the survey ended up 15 to 8 in favour of Syracuse linking directly to the orginal and more historically significant Syracuse (after which the modern New York city was named), but a particular ruling clique managed to maintain it as a disambiguation page.
>    
>   If you ask a purely American audience, they will clearly vote in favour of the link being to the New York city.  If an international audience is asked, my guess is that it would be to the original and historical one.  Making it a disambiguation page might seem the obvious and fairest solution - but for a serious encyclopedia, is that really the correct answer?
>    
>   I finish by noting that Troy currently goes directly to the historical Troy, despite the fact that there are about a dozen place names in the US called Troy (which are dealth with in a separate Troy disambiguation page).   At a minimum, I see a problem of consistency, and I simply wonder whether there is something else at play here.  I hope I have managed to  explain this clearly.
>   pippu d'a
> 
> 
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   As someone who use to do a bit of disambiguation link repair, I can 
think of at least one factor that you left out that might be useful in 
making these decisions.  If it is a disambiguation page, of the links 
that point to it (or the ones that did point to it before they were 
fixed) what percentage went to which article?

   If you point it to the historical city is it going to be a case where 
the majority of people who link to it (without checking where that link 
is going) are sending people to the wrong place?  Granted I don't think 
these sorts of numbers should in all cases be the deciding factor, but 
they should be taken into account.

   I try to view the disambiguation pages as technical rather than 
editorial.  They are navigation aids to the reader and editor, and I 
think there function as such should be taken into account.  TO me the 
question is not "which city is more important" but "what will get people 
to the page the intended".

Dalf