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The link says "Of course, many public, university, and institutional libraries elsewhere in the world subscribe, and should offer remote access." -- Hroðulf (or Hrothulf) ( Talk) 12:00, 29 September 2010 (UTC)
This template seems useless. It implies that only one library gets the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography so that a Wikipedia reader must subscribe directly or join the one library that does not require a subscription. Maybe that used to be true, but I used another library, not in the U.K., and accessed the ODNB without subscribing. It is more accurate to say of the ODNB that a "subscription may be required". That is accurate for a great many publications, and that is the wording I apply in articles, which I do without needing a template, thus reducing the Wikimedia server burden. I know of no case where it is accurate and not misleading to say, more absolutely, "subscription required". A subscription may not be required if a library makes it available. To argue (reasonably) that a library subscribes and therefore that "subscription required" is appropriate, besides presuming that libraries don't sometimes get a publication by other means (e.g., besides offering a free trial, a publisher might provide free access to a few very visible libraries and thereby promote sales elsewhere), still makes this template for ODNB misleading or wrong, as its phrasing makes a distinction it shouldn't. In addition, the link for "UK public library membership" is not to the or a UK public library but is to someone else's page of advertising or spam. I am inclined to propose that this template be replaced by a redirect, so that articles do not need editing to replace the template with one saying just "subscription required". I am also inclined to make a similar proposal for the wording of the {{ Cite ODNB}} template, in that case to edit part of the displayed text. Do this template in full and the other template's related wording still serve a purpose? Nick Levinson ( talk) 15:57, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
This
edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request. |
Please use HTTPS for the URL in this template ( https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public). Logan Talk Contributions 20:01, 5 January 2020 (UTC)
This template does not require a rating on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||
|
The link says "Of course, many public, university, and institutional libraries elsewhere in the world subscribe, and should offer remote access." -- Hroðulf (or Hrothulf) ( Talk) 12:00, 29 September 2010 (UTC)
This template seems useless. It implies that only one library gets the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography so that a Wikipedia reader must subscribe directly or join the one library that does not require a subscription. Maybe that used to be true, but I used another library, not in the U.K., and accessed the ODNB without subscribing. It is more accurate to say of the ODNB that a "subscription may be required". That is accurate for a great many publications, and that is the wording I apply in articles, which I do without needing a template, thus reducing the Wikimedia server burden. I know of no case where it is accurate and not misleading to say, more absolutely, "subscription required". A subscription may not be required if a library makes it available. To argue (reasonably) that a library subscribes and therefore that "subscription required" is appropriate, besides presuming that libraries don't sometimes get a publication by other means (e.g., besides offering a free trial, a publisher might provide free access to a few very visible libraries and thereby promote sales elsewhere), still makes this template for ODNB misleading or wrong, as its phrasing makes a distinction it shouldn't. In addition, the link for "UK public library membership" is not to the or a UK public library but is to someone else's page of advertising or spam. I am inclined to propose that this template be replaced by a redirect, so that articles do not need editing to replace the template with one saying just "subscription required". I am also inclined to make a similar proposal for the wording of the {{ Cite ODNB}} template, in that case to edit part of the displayed text. Do this template in full and the other template's related wording still serve a purpose? Nick Levinson ( talk) 15:57, 12 July 2013 (UTC)
This
edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request. |
Please use HTTPS for the URL in this template ( https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public). Logan Talk Contributions 20:01, 5 January 2020 (UTC)