Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Archive

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Nice idea

I like the idea. It will sure prove helpful! → JARED (t)  21:06, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. :) I've been getting frustrated with a complete lack of access to many mainstream journals. I just wish I had more to offer. ---J.S (T/C) 21:16, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Merge (old discussion: SEE NEW SECTION BELOW)

I'd suggest you somehow merge with these already established projects:

So as not to duplicate efforts. (The 1st is linked at the bottom of Wikipedia:Community Portal#Editing, the 2nd is linked from the 1st's "See also" section. Not very visible I'll admit, but that's how I knew of them ;) —Quiddity 22:27, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

I was afrade that this would happen... something redundent! I'll leave a soft-redirect under the newspaper section to Newspapers and magazines request service... but Wikipedia:Research resources looks to be fairly dead at the moment. Still a huge useful information. I'll certainly cross-link to both projects, and see if I can carve out a niche for this one. :) ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 23:00, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
You'll likely get more assistance from others if you revive the Wikipedia:Research resources project instead of trying to replace it with this one, as dozens of people will have it watchlisted, and will join in if they see frequent activity. It's always better to merge, than to fork, if possible. Anyway, I'll leave up to you :) —Quiddity 23:15, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
Ummm your probably right. I'll try to think of a way to merge/revive. ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 23:42, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
yes, please revive Wikipedia:Research resources if you can! It's a good project, and there's probably new people now who want to participate. Quiddity's right, if some of us see activity over there, we'll pitch in :) Good luck no matter which route you take! -- phoebe 01:24, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

There is also Wikipedia:Library, another 'to merge' similar idea.-- Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus | talk  02:51, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

There's also Anime resources on this userpage and there's also WP:CVG/M which probably merits not so much a merge but at least a link.Chevinki 21:02, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

    • Agreed that one place would be the best, but which? (that is, one place for general resources. Various subje3ct fields may want a more specialized one, which I think is fine. 04:50, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Merge them all, and definitely mention LibraryThing or integrate it somehow. — Omegatron 00:07, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

LibraryThing

I've just created a userbox, {{User:Ptcamn/LibraryThing|username}}, to link to LibraryThing catalogs, which might be useful to this project. --Ptcamn 22:15, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

That is interesting... I've never heard of that project before. ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 16:51, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

Advertising

To make this project really useful, it should get noticed more.

What I mean is, there should be more links to this page, links in a noticeable but constructive way of course. like templates that reach big groups of users and so on (the userboxes are a start). Anybody any ideas? Because you can't just start linking everywhere at random. Key to the city 18:15, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

Well, I tagged a the articles that were related to references and brought them into this project... I'm not exactly sure how else we can advertise without getting slapped for spam. :) ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 16:28, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

Merger proposal

I like the idea behind all these resource sharing pages a lot, but we're wasting some energy, efficiency and causing confusion by having the following four projects, which are far too similar in purpose:

The user looking for a source would have to look through 4 similar projects, decide which one he needs, maybe not notice that that one is dead, etc... All clearly divided in sections, but united in one place would prevent that you have to look all over Wikipedia for your specific need.

My proposal: we merge them all, but keep their specific functions by creating four (or more) main sections:

  • users listing research resources (newspapers, magazines, scientific works, books, anything really) available to them (that's what Resource Exchange, Library and Research resources does)
  • a detailed and organised list of resources available on the net for free (that's what Research resources does)
  • a users-who-have-a-LibraryThing-catalog category (that's what Library does sort of, see next paragraph)
  • newspaper/magazine/research resources requests (that's what Newspaper and magazines request service and Research resources does)

The Library is really dead. I know some of you like to see it stay, just out of 'historic' interest, but what it really does is confuse the user who is trying to get a hold of something. LibraryThing can actually fill its void: what should happen is: there needs to be a category 'users who have a LibraryThing account' or something (the userbox exists: User:Ptcamn/LibraryThing, but there's no category I think), and there should be a link to this category on the one resource projectpage. (read below, change of mind)

The other projects seem fairly active. The title 'Research resources' or 'Resource Exchange' is fitting for a wider scope such as I suggested. That's why I chose one of them as destination page for now. But better titles can be proposed.

I'm willing to do the merging and cleaning up myself if you all agree on this. So please do respond (especially the founders of these projects)! Key to the city 12:27, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

If someone wants to merge like projects thats cool to me. I only founded this one because the others seemed a bit inactive. Where would the merge to? ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 16:27, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
I'm not set on a definitive destination page for the merge. It's open for discussion. Key to the city 19:18, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
As I said in the old merge thread, I strongly agree with merging.
I still tentatively suggest merging to Wikipedia:Research resources primarily because it is more likely to be on multiple editor's watchlists (they'll be interested, and can help maintain once it's merged). That page can then be moved to any title you decide upon (thereby dragging all the watchlistees with it). It's not crucial at all though. As long as the merge happens, I'm happy :) --Quiddity 17:39, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
If people have Research resources on their watch list, I'm sure they'll notice the merge. And after the merge the Research resources page will be redirected to this one anyway. But don't get me wrong, I'm not against Research resources as a destination page. Everybody should give some arguments for the destination page of their choice. Key to the city 19:18, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
I kind of changed my mind on the LibraryThing idea I described above in the first post. I still want to make the category and link to it on the new project page, but I realised it won't replace Wikipedia:Library. With a list of people who have a LibraryThing account you won't be able to search for a specific book that easy, not without opening each user's account one by one. So I suggest a regular merge of the Wikipedia:Library content and the realisation of the LibraryThing category. Key to the city 19:18, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
I'd prefer to keep the "Wikiproject" pas part name, but I'm fine with whatever. Name is secondary to purpose anyway. ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 19:37, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
I agree. The 'Wikiproject' part explains a lot to a user who sees a link to the project. Key to the city 19:49, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I'll wait for another couple of days, to give people from the other projects a chance to react. I even notified the users who I think are the founders of the other projects. But then it's merge merge merge. If I manage. Key to the city 20:31, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Update: Merge from Wikipedia:Library to Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange: Done. I'm gonna take a break now, and merge one of the other two projects tomorrow. Key to the city 20:56, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Update 2: Merge from Wikipedia:Research resources to Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange: Done. Next up: Newspapers and magazines request service. Key to the city 13:15, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Update 3: Merge from Wikipedia:Newspapers and magazines request service to Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange: Done. Done with merging. Still needs detail work maybe, I'll scan for that later. But first a drink. Key to the city 15:35, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Update: I moved some of the content from the old Research Resources project (i.e. the Free Online Resources here on Resource Exchange) back to the original place (now renamed as Wikipedia:Free online resources): it confused people with what we mean with 'sharing' + it helps to make this project less lengthy. Key to the city (talk) 21:59, 1 January 2008 (UTC)


Archive This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.