Referencing Tip #2 - <b>Use Google Books to improve existing references.</b> <br><br>In an article like Gandhi, many references are handcrafted and may contain few of the essential bibliographic details needed for a satisfactory reference (the abbreviated templates I gave at the beginning of this thread give an idea of what are the important fields for most citations). If the preview is available then it is possible to verify and to quote from the source page cited. Even if the preview is not available, the url helps buildup the citation easily to add more details available.<br>
<br>Here is a reference improved using Google Books/RefTag combination.<br><br><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&diff=prev&oldid=470991700">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&diff=prev&oldid=470991700</a><br>
<br>In some cases, the references are legacy dating back from the days before Google had digitised and made available online the text of so many books in preview or full view mode. These references can be updated and the url links included in the reference will lead to the source page cited where the visitor can verify the information added. <br>
<br>The google/RefTag combination which I have mentioned before are without doubt some of the most useful of techniques.<br><br>Happy editting!<br><br clear="all">Warm regards,<br><br>Ashwin Baindur<br>------------------------------------------------------<br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Ashwin Baindur <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ashwin.baindur@gmail.com">ashwin.baindur@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Referencing Tip #1 - <b>Use Google Books to replace unverifiable references.</b> <br><br>For a subject like Gandhi, you will often come across references such as this:<br><br><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&oldid=470829986#cite_ref-5" target="_blank">^</a></b> <span>Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi (1997). <i>The Mahatma and the Poet</i>. New Delhi: National Book Trust, India. p. 1.<br>
<br>(reference 6 on this oldid - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&oldid=470829986" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&oldid=470829986</a>)<br>
<br>The reference was for Rabindranath Tagore being the person who coined the term "Mahatma" for Gandhi.<br><br>Instead, by searching for "Tagore coined the term Mahatma" on Google, I got lots of links, a few with preview.<br>
<br>I immediately find this link:<br>
</span><div><h3><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15&dq=Tagore+coined+the+term+Mahatma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAg" target="_blank">Indian English poetry and fiction: critical elucidations: Volume 1 - Page 15</a></h3>
</div><table width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding-top:2px" valign="top" width="49"><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15&dq=Tagore+coined+the+term+Mahatma&hl=en&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-thumbnail&resnum=3&ved=0CEUQ6wEwAg" target="_blank"><img src="" alt="" style="display:inline-block;min-height:80px;margin:0px 0px 0px 0px;width:49px" width="49" align="middle" border="1" height="80"></a></td>
<td style="padding-left:7px" valign="top"><div><cite><a href="http://books.google.co.in" target="_blank">books.google.co.in</a></cite><span style="white-space:normal"><a href="http://www.google.co.in/search?num=100&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=33v&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1280&bih=842&tbm=bks&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Amar+Nath+Prasad%22&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEMQ9Ag" target="_blank">Amar Nath Prasad</a>, <a href="http://www.google.co.in/search?num=100&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=33v&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&biw=1280&bih=842&tbm=bks&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Amar+Nath+Prasad%22&q=inauthor:%22A.N.+Prasad+Rajiv+K.Malik%22&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEQQ9Ag" target="_blank">A.N. Prasad Rajiv K.Malik</a> - 2007 - 269 pages - <a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15&dq=Tagore+coined+the+term+Mahatma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEYQuwUwAg" target="_blank">Full view</a></span><br>
<table width="100%"><tbody><tr><td><span>It was <i>Tagore</i>, who popularized the <i>term</i> "<i>Mahatma</i>"- great soul as a description of Gandhi. <b>...</b> His fame rested partly on his charisma-a world that might have been <i>invented</i> for <i>Tagore</i> — which was experienced at first hand in many <b>...</b></span></td>
</tr></tbody></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br>So when I click the link, i reach this page, <br><br><a href="http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15&dq=Tagore+coined+the+term+Mahatma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Tagore%20coined%20the%20term%20Mahatma&f=false" target="_blank">http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15&dq=Tagore+coined+the+term+Mahatma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Tagore%20coined%20the%20term%20Mahatma&f=false</a><br>
<br>which works admirably as a reference:<br><br><i>It was Tagore who popularised the term "Mahatma" - Great soul, as a description of Gandhi. <br><br></i>So just pickup the page url & add it to reftag<i><br>
<br></i><a href="http://reftag.appspot.com/" target="_blank">http://reftag.appspot.com/</a><i><br><br></i>and bang!<i> </i>RefTag gives you a ready made WikiText reference to use<i>:<br><br><ref name="PrasadMalikPrasad2007">{{cite book|last1=Prasad|first1=Amar Nath|last2=Malik|first2=Rajiv K.|last3=Prasad |first3=A.N. |title=Indian English poetry and fiction: critical elucidations|url=<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15%7Caccessdate=12" target="_blank">http://books.google.com/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15|accessdate=12</a> January 2012|date=1 November 2007|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-730-5|page=15}}</ref><br>
<br></i>Just add it instead to the article instead of the unverifiable reference & you only need to save.<br><i><br></i>Actually, since I used a different search term, I found another reference for the article instead of the one above.<i><br>
<br></i><span>Richard L. Johnson; Gandhi (Mahatma) (2006). <a rel="nofollow" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=dRQcKsx-YgQC&pg=PA279" target="_blank"><i>Gandhi's experiments with truth: essential writings by and about Mahatma Gandhi</i></a>. Lexington Books. p. 279. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number" title="International Standard Book Number" target="_blank">ISBN</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7391-1143-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7391-1143-7" target="_blank">978-0-7391-1143-7</a><span>. Retrieved 12 January 2012</span>.</span><div>
<div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br clear="all">Warm regards,<br><br>Ashwin Baindur<br>------------------------------------------------------<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br>