Talk:South West Observatory

{{helpme}}

Untitled

Your question. --SWOAndyD (talk) 15:51, 23 June 2009 (UTC) Hi Guys, can you explain how I can avoid getting the South West Observatory entry deleted? I've read through your bits on how to create articles, etc, and understand that it shouldn't be an advert for the services we provide.

In essence the SWO is a publically funded network which is in place to provide useful information to those living and working in the South West (England) - especially to policy makers. It's a bit like the ONS - Office for National Statistics - in this way.

Be grateful for your comments. Andy Dunne

Hi Andy, I've removed the speedy delete tag, and added a couple of references. PhilKnight (talk) 16:15, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Local Intelligence Networks

I think there is a valid discussion to be had here on whether there should be links to the LINs - including the Wiltshire LIN - from this article. They are not, by my definition, "spam" - they are public rather than commercial organisations providing statistical and other information through the Observatory as well as directly to organisations and the public. They could perhaps be linked from the lead authority articles - such as the one on Wiltshire County Council - but I'm not sufficiently in tune with how they are organised to know whether that's appropriate. But, if one is linked from here, they should all be linked - which I would have no objection to. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:27, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm always happy to admit to being wrong and perhaps I was a bit hasty. If I had scrolled to the bottom of the (rather clunky looking) site I would have seen the Wiltshire Council link, but I took one look at the site, noticed that the newly registered user added it to three articles in quick succession and hit revert. Having taken a closer look it does seem to contain some very useful information which at the very least should be added to the Wiltshire Article - although I don't see what relevance it has to this specific article. To be honest, rather than have it as an external link in any article other than Wiltshire and Wiltshire Council, it should be used as a reference. Perhaps it should be suggested as a resource to the county's wikiproject (assuming there is one). --Simple Bob ^{a.k.a. The Spaminator} (Talk) 15:39, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

As I understand it (as someone who used to work closely with one of these LINs, and indeed the SW Observatory, some years ago, though their role and operation will have changed since then), the LINs feed local information into the Observatory as well as providing information directly to the public and local organisations, and their funding comes from local authorities and other (mostly public) bodies. There's a question of consistency - if a link is added from the Wiltshire (or Wiltshire Council) article, similar links should be added from the other local authorities, and it may make as much or better sense to have a single list of the links from this article. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:45, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, I too feel I acted in haste after only taking a cursory glance at the site in question, I also tagged the recently created page Wiltshire Intelligence Network for speedy deletion, I've since removed the tag, although the article is rather promotional in tone, I'll leave it for others to ponder. Free Bear (talk) 15:59, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, it certainly appears promotional. We'll need to see what sort of consensus emerges. And I question the value of adding them to articles. They do nothing to enhance the encyclopedic value of the article and to my way of thinking only serve to promote awareness and use of the LIN. WP:EL is very clear on this. LINs provide information- then let them be a cited source or not linked at all. Dlohcierekim 12:48, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

So far as I can see, the LINs meet none of the criteria at WP:ELNO. They are non-commercial sites which provide free and neutral statistical information, which can usefully and valuably supplement the information at WP. The question is simply how they are best linked from this site. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:44, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

It looks like we are all in agreement with each other - that the LIN's are reliable and valuable sources to be used when referencing content within Wikipedia articles. As for external links section I'm still firmly on the side of not linking. --Simple Bob ^{a.k.a. The Spaminator} (Talk) 10:10, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm still not clear why you take that view. (There is a list of links here if you'd like to check them.) Ghmyrtle (talk) 11:06, 13 June 2011 (UTC)