[Wikimedia-in-en] GA master class - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi #2

[Ashwin Baindur]

Referencing Tip #2 - *Use Google Books to improve existing references.*

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.

Here is a reference improved using Google Books/RefTag combination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&diff=prev&oldid=470991700

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.

The google/RefTag combination which I have mentioned before are without
doubt some of the most useful of techniques.

Happy editting!

Warm regards,

Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------


On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 2:10 PM, Ashwin Baindur <ashwin.baindur at gmail.com>wrote:

> Referencing Tip #1 - *Use Google Books to replace unverifiable references.
> *
>
> For a subject like Gandhi, you will often come across references such as
> this:
>
> *^<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&oldid=470829986#cite_ref-5>
> * Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi (1997). *The Mahatma and the Poet*. New Delhi:
> National Book Trust, India. p. 1.
>
> (reference 6 on this oldid -
> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi&oldid=470829986
> )
>
> The reference was for Rabindranath Tagore being the person who coined the
> term "Mahatma" for Gandhi.
>
> Instead, by searching for "Tagore coined the term Mahatma" on Google, I
> got lots of links, a few with preview.
>
> I immediately find this link:
> Indian English poetry and fiction: critical elucidations: Volume 1 - Page
> 15<http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15&dq=Tagore+coined+the+term+Mahatma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAg>
>
> <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>
> books.google.co.inAmar Nath Prasad<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>,
> A.N. Prasad Rajiv K.Malik<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>- 2007 - 269 pages - Full
> view<http://books.google.co.in/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15&dq=Tagore+coined+the+term+Mahatma&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IpQOT9TpEYjUrQetj6XsAQ&ved=0CEYQuwUwAg>
> It was *Tagore*, who popularized the *term* "*Mahatma*"- great soul as a
> description of Gandhi. *...* His fame rested partly on his charisma-a
> world that might have been *invented* for *Tagore* — which was
> experienced at first hand in many *...*
>
> So when I click the link, i reach this page,
>
>
> 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
>
> which works admirably as a reference:
>
> *It was Tagore who popularised the term "Mahatma" - Great soul, as a
> description of Gandhi.
>
> *So just pickup the page url & add it to reftag*
>
> *http://reftag.appspot.com/*
>
> *and bang!* *RefTag gives you a ready made WikiText reference to use*:
>
> <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=
> http://books.google.com/books?id=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA15|accessdate=12January 2012|date=1 November 2007|publisher=Sarup &
> Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-730-5|page=15}}</ref>
>
> *Just add it instead to the article instead of the unverifiable reference
> & you only need to save.
> *
> *Actually, since I used a different search term, I found another
> reference for the article instead of the one above.*
>
> *Richard L. Johnson; Gandhi (Mahatma) (2006). *Gandhi's experiments with
> truth: essential writings by and about Mahatma Gandhi*<http://books.google.com/books?id=dRQcKsx-YgQC&pg=PA279>.
> Lexington Books. p. 279. ISBN<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number>
>  978-0-7391-1143-7<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7391-1143-7>.
> Retrieved 12 January 2012.
>
>
> Warm regards,
>
> Ashwin Baindur
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
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