Editing Encyclopedia:Measurements Debate (section)

==What's the preferred style for units?==
What's the preferred style for units? In your example for numbers etc. you use both m (metre) and kilograms (kg). I'd say the abbreviations for SI units are quite well established (well, outside of the US anyway) and are hardly seen written in full, but I'm not sure about the imperial units, one sees 10 yard, 10 y, 10 yd, 10 yards, etc. Any rules for this? [[User:Jheijmans|Jeronimo]]

: I think we should prefer metric / SI over Imperial / US. -- [[User:Tarquin|Tarquin]]

I know, but they will be used in many articles no doubt, if only as a secondary to the SI units. [[User:Jheijmans|Jeronimo]]

: Anonymous observations here ... Someone suggested that both SI and US Imperial measurements be included in all articles, with order in appearance determined by what the article is about. I agree with the observation that some of the Wikipedians here are trying to force the SI system as the only standard, and I've seen more than a few articles where editors went through and removed any hint of US Imperial measurements, even on articles where such measurements were, ah, "the progenitor," for lack of better words.

I don't think it's "the right thing to do" to completely remove US Imperial measurements. I've noticed all-too-often in this discussion a caustic attitude to any objections concerning the deletion of US Imperial from articles; but the fact is, even if the United States is the only country using that system of measurements, Americans are still a significant presence on Wikipedia (and the internet at large!). Attempts by other Wikipedians to disadvantage them, forcing a system many do not have a sense of familiarity with (although it's taught in most American schools, because the US Imperial system is more prevalent here, most Americans will have a better sense of scale with those) .... this comes off as slightly amusing given that Wikipedia's based in Florida. The fact that Wikipedia is based in Florida plays no argument at all for a global internet community.

Again, I'm not saying that Wikipedia should cater ONLY to Americans and use US Imperial; that's absurd. By the same token, it should be recognized that given the user base, US Imperial simply cannot be thrown away, lest you devalue the worth of this encyclopedia to a significant amount of users. I believe the dual system, with order of appearance judging on the article, to be a fair compromise.  --anon who forgot to sign anonymously

:For the record, the correct term is '''[[U.S. customary units]]''', "maintained" by [[NIST]].  Imperial units refer the British units of the same names, but mostly slightly (or significantly) differ in value.

:Secondly, as of 1988, by an act of Congress, the metric system is the preferred system of weights and measurements in the US.  As of 1995, the US is the '''only''' country in the world which officially uses non-SI units in commerce, that being the year the UK, the last hold-out, finally banned Imperial units.  (Anyway, the U.S. customary units have existed purely as ratios with the metric units since 1906.  An inch '''is defined''' as a certain fraction of meter.)  In Canada and the UK, the only non-metric units are for drinking and driving.  There's something poetic about that.

:Anyway, the whole point of that is to say that metric units (and [[ISO 31-0|SI notation]]) should be preferred, as '''no country''', English-speaking or otherwise, prefers U.S. customary units.  If convenient comparison is desired, they should be inserted parenthetically after the SI units.

:There are, however, reasons to provide the reverse.  Some standards, some devices, some objects, are defined in US customary units.  The definitions should be provided as accurately as possible, and most metric conversions will be approximations to the millimeter.  SI units should be provided, but the definition's units should take precidence until the definition is updated.  —[[User:Daelin|Daelin]] @ <tt>2006–01–08 16:52Z</tt>