great email Nikki wrote: > Hi, > > I was curious about the distribution of countries for bootlegs [1] and I > noticed that the untitled bootleg style [2] doesn't really consist of much > and live bootleg style [3] still doesn't expand the location very much. A > general style appears to have emerged in some places and I'd like to get it > written down instead of it being one of those unwritten rules. In other > areas, we're using two or more different ways of representing the same > data, and given that untitled bootlegs have titles we've created, we should > be a bit more consistent. :) > > Here goes: > > Locations should include a country. The majority do appear to include a > country although there are a few people who don't add "USA".
agreed. Locations should include a country. > > Country names should be spelt out, except for the USA and the UK which are > much more commonly referred to as their abbreviation [4]. agreed. > > Should we use "The Netherlands" or just "Netherlands"? Wikipedia [9], the > CIA World Factbook [A] and ISO [B] call it just "Netherlands" but "The > Netherlands" appears to be more common amongst our titles [6]. Holland also > gets some use but this is really misuse [7]. agreed. I believe we should drop "The" and just use Netherlands > > US states should be included as their two letter abbreviation (there are > many more using abbreviations than fully spelt out names, and abbreviating > the name allows us to store the information without it generating a lot of > clutter). agreed. > > Should Canadian provinces be included [5]? If so, should they be spelt out > or abbreviated? Personally I can see an argument for including them, but if > they're included, I'd like to see them abbreviated like American states. yes they should be included, IMO. and I agree that they should be abbreviated like American states. > > Should UK countries be included? I can see an argument for including them > here too, but there are no commonly used abbreviations and it's more common > to exclude them [E]. However, I don't think we should include county > (that's county, not country) names, not only are they far too tiny, but we > don't generally include subdivisions of countries (except for the USA and > Canada, but these are countries many times the size of the UK!) i think that UK countries should indeed be included. i would prefer to see "England, UK" rather than "UK" or "England". > > Should we use the local or English form of names when both exist? > Personally I prefer local names, but I guess English names are more popular > [8] and make more sense when the country is in English too. i don't have an opinion on this.. yet. > > Should Washington DC and New York performances be titled "Washington, DC, > USA" and "New York, NY, USA"? New York appears to be more common than New > York City [C]. "Washington, DC" is more common [D] and would be consistent > with the other names. "New York, NY" "City of New York, NY" and "New York City, NY" are interchangeable AFAIC. I think any use is fine, but if there needs to be a solid rule about this, i feel that it should be "New York, NY, USA" > > --Nikki, who was worried the footnotes would be longer than the email. > > 1. http://lmfao.org.uk/.files/bootlegs.png > 2. http://wiki.musicbrainz.org/UntitledBootlegStyle > 3. http://wiki.musicbrainz.org/LiveBootlegStyle > 4. UK and USA variant name usage stats: > USA: 2654 > US: 6 > United States: 5 > --- > UK: 242 > United Kingdom: 4 > Great Britain: 1 > 5. Canadian province usage stats: > 48 abbreviated > 35 not abbreviated > 32 no province > 6. .nl name usage stats: > The Netherlands: 76 > Netherlands: 18 > Holland: 11 > 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland > 8. Comparison of city name usage stats: > Vienna: 8 > Wien: 2 > --- > Cologne: 12 > Köln/Koln: 2 > --- > Munich: 10 > München/Munchen: 1 > --- > Gothenburg: 94 > Göteborg/Goteborg: 4 > 9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands > A. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nl.html > B. > http://www.iso.org/iso/en/prods-services/iso3166ma/02iso-3166-code-lists/list-en1.html > C. New York usage stats: > "New York, NY": 176 > "New York City, NY": 38 > D. Washington DC usage stats: > "Washington D.C.": 8 > "Washington, D.C.": 13 > "Washington DC": 5 > "Washington, DC": 30 > E. UK country usage stats: > England: 48 > England, UK: 2 > Scotland: 8 > Northern Ireland, UK: 1 > UK: 239 > _______________________________________________ > Musicbrainz-style mailing list > Musicbrainz-style@lists.musicbrainz.org > http://lists.musicbrainz.org/mailman/listinfo/musicbrainz-style > _______________________________________________ Musicbrainz-style mailing list Musicbrainz-style@lists.musicbrainz.org http://lists.musicbrainz.org/mailman/listinfo/musicbrainz-style
