Talk:National Arts Centre

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[edit] Change of name?

I am wondering whether this should be called National Arts Centre of Canada, National Arts Centre could be anywhere. - Kleinzach 18:47, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Let's do it. Makes sense.

Vivaverdi 06:56, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

I've reverted this change. It's name is simply the "National Arts Centre" and a quick Google serach shows that it is the only organization that seems to go by this name. Moreover, the merger was done by cut and paste, which separated the article from its history. We would never rename the National Security Agency, National Science Foundation, or National Geographic articles. Why would we change this one? - SimonP 20:37, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Before the text of the article was altered, it started "The National Arts Centre of Canada (NAC) (in French: Le Centre national des arts (CNA)) has become Canada's foremost showcase for the performing arts." If that is not the official name then I suggest the article should be called National Arts Centre (Canada). I trust that would satisfy everybody, while avoiding ambiguity. There are, after all, many, many national arts centres in the world. - Kleinzach 23:36, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

The title is not ambiguous, there are no other "National Art Centres". There is no reason to make the title less precise. If anyone is wondering what nation is being referred to, they merely need to read the first sentence of the article. We have hundreds of articles that are simply titled "National XXX" with no disambiguation, in addition to the three already mentioned there is also National Health Service, National Weather Service, National Road, and National Mall. - SimonP 00:05, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Hmm. I believe there is a National Arts Centre in India. If you search there are probably others. Regarding your examples, they seem to be all of major institutions - but adding UK or USA in parentheses would be fine IMO and add clarity. - Kleinzach 00:39, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Google gives no evidence for another institution by this name. A search for '"national arts centre" +india' simply gives various Indian themed events happening at the one in Ottawa. I've searched and no other country seems to have a "National Arts Centre." I don’t understand why we should add unneeded information to article titles. The title should when possible simply be the name of the article subject, any extra information is found in the article itself. Titles should be as brief and clear as possible- SimonP 01:55, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

The English Google (I haven't looked at the others) gives 270 million results for National Arts Centre. One of these is the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and there must be others, but that's not really the point - National Arts Centre (Canada) clarifies where the place is. That's what i want to know as an international reader. - Kleinzach 08:50, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Do do an accurate search you have to search for the term in quotation marks, otherwise you will get organizations with slightly similar names. This search gives 450,000 hits and the first 100 all refer to the NAC. If you want to know where it is, read the article. I might want to know what type of arts it hosts, this does not mean the title should have (music and theatre) appended to it. Titles are for the name of the organization, not for extra information that might or might not be useful to readers. - SimonP 15:39, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

SimonP writes: "If you want to know where it is, read the article."

I think that's unreasonable. If Wikipedia article titles are not specific, search becomes difficult. (In any case the use of parentheses in Wikipedia titles does not imply a formal change in name.) - Kleinzach 16:39, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree with SimonP. There is no other article with the name "National Arts Centre", nor does there appear to be another institution with that name. The most commonly used name is the "National Arts Centre", and adding the word "(Canada)" to the title will simply make it more difficult to find the article. --Skeezix1000 11:57, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Both of you, (SimonP and Skeezix1000), live in Canada, perhaps quite close to the centre. So the name National Arts Centre is unambiguous from your point of view. However the Wikipedia NPOV policy implies an international perspective. What do other people think? - Kleinzach 16:26, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

It may be true that both SimonP and Skeezix1000, and I as well, live in Canada...but that still doesn't change the fact that there is no other "National Arts Centre" in the world comparable to the one in Canada, and a quick Google search verifies that. GrahameS 22:28, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

The concern raised stems from a misunderstanding of the NPOV policy. It is not POV to use the most common name, where there is no risk of conflict with other articles. Skeezix1000 11:21, 12 September 2006 (UTC)