It’s Worcester vs. Worcester for pride of place
The battleground: Wikipedia.
The war: What page should appear when you type in “Worcester.”
Earlier this week, Worcester News (UK) reported on an online battle between Wikipedia users in America and in England; both sides want their “Worcester” to be the one that shows up when you type in “Worcester.” Currently, a search for the name lands you on the page for the UK city, with a “disambiguation” link up top to our Worcester.
That’s not good enough for some people. One user, under the name Raime, writes in a page discussion that he wants Worcester, Mass., to be given priority, or a disambiguation page to be the landing point on a search.
“... Given that Worcester, MA has over 5,000 more readers than Worcester, UK, it is fairly clear that a vast majority of readers (which would be the requirement for “Worcester” to be located here) are in fact not seeking the city in Worcestershire. A disambiguation page is the optimal solution here.” A disambiguation page would be a stop-over page, allowing users to choose which of the Worcesters they are looking for.
But not everyone agrees. One user writes on the Wiki discussion, “The dilemma here seems to be the population and traffic factors. However, these shouldn’t be considered major catalysts. I live on the West Coast (U.S.) and wasn’t aware of the existence of the Massachusetts Worcester until now. I do, however, know the English Worcester as the city in which the famous sauce originates and the home of Worcester cathedral. It seems as if the Masssachusetts Worcester doesn’t show any more notability over the original Worcester besides population (which may be a catalyst in the many more hits considering people looking for their hometown). Nevertheless, population is not a prime factor, especially when the American city is no more notable. The status quo is fine.”
So far, dozens of Wikipedia readers have weighed in, and a print-out of the discussion runs 10,000 words and 34 pages.
In an e-mail to us, Worcester, UK, citizen Bob Churchill — who weighed in on the Worcester News site writes, “In my opinion, both Worcester, MA and Worcester, Worcestershire, have reasonable claims to be the Worcester page on Wikipedia. In the UK, we have considerable historical significance. In the US, you have a bigger population in the present. Wouldn’t a fair compromise be that a search for Worcester should by default land on the Worcester disambiguation page?”
They’re taking it pretty seriously in the real world, too. Worcester News quotes Worcester (UK) mayor Lucy Hodgson as saying, “Worcester in Massachusetts goes back a long time in United States history but we go back further, to 1189.
“As far as history is concerned, we’re first but we share a common bond and while I agree we should be first, Worcester, Massachusetts, should not be far behind.”
And Richard Lockett, of the Worcester Civic Society, told the paper, “I think it’s a close-run thing.
“But when you’re looking up Worcester on the Internet you should come to the first place to have the name.” o
