Talk:University of Klagenfurt

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Name of the university: "University of Klagenfurt" vs. "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt"

The lemma University of Klagenfurt was changed to Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt on September 26, 2012 since this is the reference name also in english correspondence. Sources:

communique by Rector Friederike Wall ("Bezeichnung für unsere Universität: Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt") on July 7, 2012
english version of the university webpage lists Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt as name (retrieved on September 26, 2012)

--Wilfried Elmenreich (talk) 13:59, 26 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Changed back to University of Klagenfurt, which is the standard translation of the legal name Universität Klagenfurt (according to Par. 6 Austrian Universities Act 2002) and corresponds to the customary English names of major federal universities in Austria (University of Vienna, University of Graz, University of Innsbruck, University of Salzburg). --Cambridge51 17:35, 26 Dec 2018 (CET)

I have reverted the WP:BOLD move, restoring title which was stable for six years. @User:Cambridge51: You may wish to open a WP:RM discussion. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 21:57, 26 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, BrownHairedGirl, I just did. --Cambridge51 23:58, 26 December 2018 (CET)

Edit March 25, 2018

Removing the statement, that the university would be the southernmost university in the German-speaking countries. German is a co-official language in one part of Italy - South Tyrol. Therefore, Italy must be considered to be a German-speaking country. At the University of Bozen-Bolzano in Italy, lectures are held in English, German and Italian. Bozen is situated further south than Klagenfurt. Therefore, the University of Klagenfurt is not the southernmost university in the German-speaking countries. --K1812 (talk) 20:55, 25 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 26 December 2018

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: consensus to move the page to the proposed title at this time, per the discussion below. Dekimasuよ! 23:29, 7 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt → University of Klagenfurt – Federal Austrian Universities are typically and systematically listed under the standard translation of their legal name in Wikipedia (e.g., University of Vienna, University of Graz, University of Innsbruck, University of Salzburg). Their German-language cognomen (not part of the legal name), as in Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck or Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg, does usually not constitute the lemma. The only (other) exception seems to be the Johannes Kepler University Linz; but also there, the English name is used (together with the cognomen, though). For the sake of encyclopedic homogeneity, the Universität Klagenfurt (legal name) should have the structurally same entry (University of Klagenfurt) as the Universities of Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, and Salzburg, according to the Austrian Universities Act 2002 as the legal basis for the federal universities' (German) names. All else is rather arbitrary. --Cambridge51 23:56, 26 December 2018 (CET) --Relisted. –Ammarpad (talk) 05:17, 3 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Question: what does usually not constitute the lemma mean??? --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 23:07, 26 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

It means that the Universität Graz's lemma is University of Graz (not Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz), the Universität Innsbruck's is University of Innsbruck (not Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck), the Universität Salzburg's is University of Salzburg (not Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg), the Technische Universität Graz's is Graz University of Technology (not Erzherzog-Johann-Universität Graz), and the Universität Klagenfurt's should be University of Klagenfurt (not Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt). For the legal basis see here: https://bmbwf.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/E_UG.pdf, § 6 (1) 15 (official document of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education and Science). --Cambridge51 00:18, 27 December 2018 (CET)

Sorry for the WP:BOLD move before, BrownHairedGirl, and thank you for your conscientiousness and prudence! But I'm positively sure that the English standard translation of the legal name (Universität Klagenfurt / University of Klagenfurt) is the sound choice for the lemma, in accordance with the (ancient) Austrian universities listed. It's a matter of federal law in Austria, since these are public universities. And the lemmata should be systematic, on a legal basis, not chosen at will. --Cambridge51 00:35, 27 December 2018 (CET)

Sorry, but what is a lemma? I presume it's a not the female of the species believed to be suicidal

. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 03:34, 27 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Right, it's not a female Lemmus lemmus, and the suicide story is a Disney myth; and the University of Klagenfurt is not situated on the "submerged continent of Lemuria"

. A lemma is a headword – the name of the entry. Sorry for confusing you; "lemma" is quite customary among the German Wikipedia folk. Wilfried Elmenreich started to use it in this discussion (see above), in 2012. --Cambridge51 14:22, 27 December 2018 (CET)

Support per WP:USEENGLISH and WP:CONSISTENCY. Rreagan007 (talk) 01:02, 27 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
- Concur Shadowssettle_(talk) 23:38, 27 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Dear BrownHairedGirl, what is the correct way to proceed now? (I learn from the "closing instructions" that I shell not act because I have participated in the move survey.) Thank you for your help, --Cambridge51 (talk) 23:38, 2 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
- @Cambridge51: You don't need to do anything. An uninvolved editor will close the discussion per WP:RMCI, and perform the move if there if there is a consensus to do so. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 00:01, 3 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  - I see; thank you very much. --Cambridge51 (talk) 00:20, 3 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. I was about to close in support, but was dismayed to find lacking in this proposal is evidence that the proposed title is the WP:COMMONNAME in reliable English sources, and the current title is not. Since I found evidence to the contrary[1] [2] [3] [4], I must oppose. I'm open to being persuaded otherwise, but for now the evidence supporting this proposal is seriously lacking. --В²C ☎ 01:59, 3 January 2019 (UTC) Changing !vote. See below. --В²C ☎ 18:37, 7 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

(The fourth link isn't an English source–everything is in German. Dekimasuよ! 08:26, 3 January 2019 (UTC))[reply]
- Fair enough. I was a bit sloppy with that one. Sorry. FB too! The burden though is on those supporting the move to show that the proposed name is the COMMONNAME. I don't see that. --В²C ☎ 22:58, 3 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  - Hi, I have been asked to comment on this. The reason for "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" featuring in some English contexts recently is that the rectorate recommended for a few years (since mid-2012) to use this as first choice (see also above). This is why it is the current entry at QS, for instance (your third source). However, this policy has changed in the meantime for several reasons, including frequent misuse (e.g., "Alps-Adriatic University", or "Alpen Adria Universität" without hyphens and without "Klagenfurt", etc.). Also, it gets more and more firmly established that major Austrian universities internationally use their English name, in the legal and customary "University of ..." standard form. In 2018, even the (German-language) logo of the university has been changed from "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt | Wien | Graz" to "Universität Klagenfurt" [Old version of the logo, see top right] [New version of the logo, see top left]. So the cognomen "Alpen-Adria-", which only exists since 2007 (see History in the article), will get less visible in English-language settings. Re the common name, "University of Klagenfurt" is self-explaining, brief, understandable to everyone, and frequent in use (spoken and written). I honestly doubt that "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" is recognized much in the English-speaking world. Also, there are no other universities in Klagenfurt justifying "Alpen-Adria-" as a distinguishing feature. And I have rarely heard someone saying "the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" in English; it would be baroque. So that is the story of why "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" officially features on some English websites; but this is decreasing for good reasons (again, consider the logo change). Btw, even the German-language wikipedia entry is "Universität Klagenfurt", not "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" [5]. --143.205.195.27 (talk) 15:04, 4 January 2019 (UTC) (written on-site)[reply]
    - So, "University of Klagenfurt" is the legal name of the university, see [6], § 6 (1) 15, in correspondence to "Universität Klagenfurt" (the legal name in German). Now the question is, is it also the WP:COMMONNAME, the "commonly recognizable name" of the university. I must admit I wasn't familiar with the concept, but I studied it now, and of course it is convincing: It makes more sense to list "Bill Clinton" as "Bill Clinton" than as "William Jefferson Clinton". Having said this, I would argue that – using another example from the WP:COMMONNAME section – Universität Klagenfurt rather corresponds to "United Kingdom", and Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt rather to "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", when it comes to common use and recognition.

The section also states als follows: "When there is no single, obvious name that is demonstrably the most frequently used for the topic by these [independent, reliable English-language] sources, editors should reach a consensus as to which title is best by considering these criteria directly. [...] Editors should also consider all five of the criteria for article titles outlined above." This refers to the five criteria in WP:NAMINGCRITERIA. Now let's check these criterion by criterion (see WP:NAMINGCRITERIA for the criterion definitions):

Recognizability: Speaks for "University of Klagenfurt" in my perception

Naturalness: Same

Precision: "University of Klagenfurt" is perfectly precise (unambiguous)

Conciseness: Clearly pro "University of Klagenfurt"

Consistency: Again; see also the Universität Klagenfurt title in the German Wikipedia

The text continues with: "For most topics, there is a simple and obvious title that meets these goals satisfactorily. If so, use it as a straightforward choice. However, in some cases the choice is not so obvious. It may be necessary to favor one or more of these goals over the others. This is done by consensus. For instance, the recognizable, natural, and concise title United Kingdom is preferred over the more precise title United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland."

So there may be discussions about "Recognizabilty" and "Naturalness", depending on which sources you're turning to. However, together with WP:USEENGLISH and WP:CONSISTENCY as referenced by Rregan007 (with consistency being the fifth criterion anyway), I would say that this is a clear tally in favor of "University of Klagenfurt". And if still in doubt, it may be better to go with the legal name then, and the (official English translation of the) one that the German Wikipedia uses.

Please note that also the French, Dutch, Hebrew, Romanian, and Turkish Wikipedia use literal translations of "Universität Klagenfurt", while the Slovenian, Serbocroatian, Slovenian, Ukrainian, and Russian use translations of (!) "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt", probably borrowing from each other or from the neighbouring-country Slovenian source.

Regarding your sources: The first link has "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" in the title, but also uses "University of Klagenfurt" (also in the "university identity" box). # 2 is in German except for the content of the "Über uns" box, and uses the new "Universität Klagenfurt" logo. You have a point with # 3; this seems to be due to the temporary university naming policy reported above. However, please see [7] on the same site: It also has "Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz", while the English Wikipedia entry for the "(Karl-Franzens-)Universität Graz" is University of Graz, and the German Wikpedia entry is Universität Graz. (The University of Graz is the closest neighbour of the University of Klagenfurt, 1.5 hours by car, in Styria, east of Carinthia. The Universities of Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Linz, Salzburg, and Vienna are in a "common category" in terms of university type (non-specialized), though there are huge differences in size.) # 4 has already been identified as a German-language page.

Regarding sources having "University of Klagenfurt", this includes the "Degrees taught in English" page of the university [8], the university's Department of English [9], the "Study in Austria" site [10] of the Österreichischer Austauschdienst, OeAD (see also [11] for this public institution), studyabroad [12], booking.com [13], Salzburg Research [14], the Lakeside Labs [15], and so on. However, there (unfortunately) is a plethora of name variants out there in the web, in all possible and impossible combinations (Alps-Adriatic University, Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt, ...), often giving more than one variant on the same page.

So I recommend to go with the rationale described above, for the sake of lawfulness and consistency, and also in the spirit of both WP:NAMINGCRITERIA and WP:COMMONNAME (in my perception). Again, consider United Kingdom vs. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. --Cambridge51 (talk) 23:00, 4 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Post Scriptum: The WP:COMMONNAME concept is important, in my understanding, if another name is much better recognized – and much more familar and common – than the legal name (as with "Bill Clinton" vs. "William Jefferson Clinton"). I clearly do not see this for "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" vs. "University of Klagenfurt", especially in the English-speaking world. And it is pretty strange to have the straightforward and legal name ("Universität Klagenfurt") as the title in the German Wikipedia, while the much more complicated German name variant ("long name" with epitheton ornans) should be the title in the English Wikipedia. This just leads to confusion and inconsistencies. So I would like to see a strong argument why the legal name is inappropriate here. --Cambridge51 (talk) 23:31, 4 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, but you seem to have missed the most important part of COMMONNAME: “[Wikipedia] generally prefers the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources)”. The way these discussions usually go is that the nom and supporters of the title change proposal produce persuasive citations of reliable English-language sources showing that the proposed title is most commonly used. I still don’t see that here. —В²C ☎ 06:48, 5 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Dear В²C, thank you for this. No, I haven't missed this part, but maybe I went over it too fast or too sloppily in my comment. So let's look at the WP:COMMONNAME rules in context:

"[...] Wikipedia does not necessarily use the subject's "official" name as an article title; it generally prefers the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources) as such names will usually best fit the five criteria listed above. When there is no single, obvious name that is demonstrably the most frequently used for the topic by these sources, editors should reach a consensus as to which title is best by considering these criteria directly." [italics added]

My point is that there is no "single, obvious name that is demonstrably the most frequently used (in English)". This approach works well if there is a large amount of web data, i. e., if the name of an institution features frequently in "independent, reliable English-language sources". This is not the case here, so I do not see statistical convergence, neither for the one nor for the other title.

That's why I proceeded to the next step, "editors should reach a consensus as to which title is best by considering these criteria directly" (see my text above).

In addition to this, please let me know what's wrong with my following arguments:

(a) The German Wikipedia entry is "Universität Klagenfurt" (the shorter, more concise German name).

(b) The entries in the French, Dutch, Hebrew, Romanian, and Turkish Wikipedia are "Universität Klagenfurt" in the respective language.

(c) The English Wikipedia articles for the Universität Wien, the (Karl-Franzens-)Universität Graz, the (Leopold-Franzens-)Universität Innsbruck, and the (Paris-Lodron-)Universität Salzburg are University of Vienna, University of Graz, University of Innsbruck, and University of Salzburg.

(d) "Universität Klagenfurt" and "University of Klagenfurt" are the legal names of the university (source provided above), according to Austrian federal law, and "Universität Klagenfurt" is very frequent in use (all else than uncommon).

(e) It is not possible to show "by its prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable English-language sources" that "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" would be the English common name. (There is very small, heterogeneous, and qualitatively unsatisfying web data on this.)

Also, I do not logically comprehend why "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" is the stable default, and the "independent source" proof of evidence does have to be made for the university's legal English name, but does not (and never had to) for "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt". The title of the article was "University of Klagenfurt" until 26 September 2012, and has been changed then (see Discussion above) without further ado, without a single comment of another editor or an administrator, and without fulfilling any of the criteria legitimately applied now. So I think you will agree that this was not a sound renaming/move, and the situation we have now is not based on the sound and independent evidence required.

I would argue that the legal name of the university (determined by federal law in this case, also in English) is the default and logical starting point. If there is strong evidence that another name is the WP:COMMONNAME, so be it. But I do not see this evidence, not at all. The reasons for the title currently being "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" are pretty random (one single editor single-handedly changed it in Sept. 2012, bona fide, but based on insufficient or irrelevant criteria). We evidently have a two yardsticks / double standard situation here, not out of anyone's bad intentions, but due to how this actually happened.

If the official name of an institution is Leland Stanford Junior University, but this is kind of expert knowledge, because basically everyone knows it as Stanford University (which could easily be shown both by a name recognition test or by a web search), it is evident that "Stanford University" is the common name. But this is clearly not the case here. Very few people worldwide will recognize "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" in an English-language context. It is literally "out of the ordinary".

Please consider that I clearly do not want to promote a strange or biased solution here. I just aim to improve the quality of the article, and of wikipedia, by voting for the straightforward, appropriate name (see the arguments above). The current situation, which is the result of a single-handed change in 2012, seems really strange to me. It is as if Stanford had the title "Stanford University" in the English Wikipedia (which is the case) and "Leland Stanford Junior University" in the German Wikipedia (which is not). I would also make a strong motion then to have it moved to "Stanford University" in the German Wikipedia, because this evidently is the common name here (different from the "official" name in this case). "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" as the article name in the English Wikipedia seems equally strange to me as "Leland Stanford Junior University" would as an article name in the German Wikipedia. --Cambridge51 (talk) 11:59, 5 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Well, it’s not persuasive, at least not to me, to simply declare that usage in reliable English-language sources does not indicate an obvious choice and then immediately jump to a detailed analysis per WP:CRITERIA. First you need to show either conflicting results in key English-language newspapers and magazines, books, journals, etc., or show there is a dearth of such results in such sources. I have not seen that here either. Pardon me if I missed it. —-В²C ☎ 03:54, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

~~Oppose~~ Comment Cambridge51 claims that the legal German names of universities in Graz, Klagenfurt and Salzburg would be Universität Graz, Universität Klagenfurt and Universität Salzburg. I doubt it. All entities that have an internet site in Austria are required by law to state who they are on that site. It's called the imprint (Impressum in German). And i suppose that they aren't allowed to put a random name in the imprint, but that they are required to put their legal name there. The University of Graz calls itself Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz in their imprint, Klagenfurt University calls itself Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt in their imprint, and the University of Salzburg calls itself the Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg in the imprint. The fact that they are called Universität Graz, Universität Klagenfurt and Universität Salzburg in the Austrian Universities Law is probably due to Austrian lawmakers' sloppiness, nothing else.

Cambridge51 also claims that these universities' legal English names would be University of Graz, University of Klagenfurt and University of Salzburg. I doubt it very much. He or she has provided an English version of the Austrian Universities Act of 2002 to prove his or her case. I'm pretty sure that Austrian Parliament hasn't passed the English translation into law. So the English version is just a translation, nothing more and nothing less. The names used for some universities in the English translation deviate grossly from the English names that the universities use for themselves on their web sites. Therefore, i doubt that the names in the English version of the Austrian Universities Act 2002 could be considered to be legal names. They are merely what one translator has chosen to call them at his or her own discretion.

I think it's a good idea to try to find an English name for the article about the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt. I suggest to look at what Encyclopaedia Britannica calls the university. They call it Klagenfurt University, and i suggest that the article should be moved to that name. It's less unwieldy - or more concise - than University of Klagenfurt. it would also be a bold move :-) I also believe that Encyclopaedia Britannica is a better source than booking.com and the other sources that have been presented until now. Klagenfurt University is also consistent with other universities' names, such as Boston University, Princeton University, Stockholm University, Uppsala University and Yale University. --K1812 (talk) 16:11, 5 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Comment It has been said earlier, that the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt would be the sole university in Klagenfurt. That isn't completely true. The Carinthia University of Applied Sciences has two campuses in Klagenfurt. Technically, it probably isn't a university, as they aren't allowed to confer doctoral degrees, but they call themselves a university nevertheless. --K1812 (talk) 17:12, 5 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]
- Thank you for your interesting comments, K1812. They contain quite different aspects.

@Oppose / Par. 1: Sorry, but this is plainly absurd. Austrian university law does not contain the (public) universities' legal names? That's a contradiction in terms, worthy of Epimenides the Cretan. See [16] for the German-language source, by the way, or here [17] with more context (it's Art. 6). (I also like the explanation for the paradox you're creating. It's "probably due to Austrian lawmakers' sloppiness". Come on. There's an entire ministry of science here. Austrian bureaucracy is many things, but not sloppy; cf. [18], [19], for instance.)

Re your imprint argument, of course, this does not mean that the other names are not official, or "random", or even illegal. Several Austrian public universities have a concise name – which is also their legal name, "legal" meaning "as defined in the Austrian Universities Act" – and a longer name which contains the concise name: (Karl-Franzens-)Universität Graz, (Leopold-Franzens-)Universität Innsbruck and the like. They also have secured the rights for these alternative names in terms of private law. Still, for EU research grant research proposals for instance, the one and only legal name must be used.

@Oppose / Par. 2: You're right. The Universitätsgesetz has only been passed in German. However, this is the official translation of the Federal Ministry of Science. That's better than nothing.

@Oppose / Par. 3: Now, this is rather support than oppose: You argue for using an English name. However, you find that "Klagenfurt University" would be more appropriate than "University of Klagenfurt". Well, I would actually prefer "Klagenfurt University" to "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt". However, there are two problems with this. First, the "University of xx" vs. "xx University" debate is a complicated one. If you look at the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge, for instance (which should know a bit about universities, language, and dictionnaires), you will find that their names are used interchangeably with "Oxford University" and "Cambridge University". (Just search for "Oxford University" in the University of Oxford article.) In the UK, they usually prefer the "University of ..." form; see University of Bristol, University of Manchester, University of Liverpool, University of Edinburgh and so on. As for German universities, the names used in the English Wikipedia do not show a consistent pattern in this respect (University of Hamburg, but Leipzig University; University of Tübingen, but Heidelberg University, and so on). So there will be lots of examples worldwide for both forms, also in the English-speaking countries, and even several universities that use both forms alike (or for which both forms are commonly used alike). This is merely a matter of taste, actually; and of where you look at.

Second, thing is that many Austrian universities have committed themselves to the "University of ..." version, and this is also the prevalent title in the English Wikipedia. So it would be University of Vienna, University of Graz, University of Innsbruck (these are the three "ancient" universities, so to speak), and University of Salzburg, but Klagenfurt University? I see no gain here.

Thank you for the "Encyclopedia Britannica" reference: Yes, this is certainly better than booking.com, although it is an entry about (the city of) Klagenfurt, and "Klagenfurt University" is mentioned rather en passant, in the sense of "the university that is situated in Klagenfurt". I do not think that they did much research on this. WP:CONSISTENCY clearly speaks against it. Or maybe you start with boldly changing the "University of Vienna" title to "Vienna University"; have fun with that :)

@Comment: It is correct that the Austrian, German, and Swiss Fachhochschulen call themselves "University of Applied Sciences" in English. However, they are not allowed to call themselves "Universität" in German (it's "Hochschule" or "Fachhochschule"). Austrian "Universitäten" are research universities in the anglo-saxon sense (referring to Wilhelm von Humboldt's ideals), Fachhochschulen / Universities of Applied Sciences are not. Be that as it may, the issue was brought up in the sense of the precision criterion: "University of Klagenfurt" (or "Klagenfurt University", for that matter) is sufficiently precise; there is no other institution with "Klagenfurt" and "University" in its name inducing a need for the "Alpen-Adria-" cognomen in order to differentiate between these two.

So, really, folks, let's be serious: What speaks against having "University of Klagenfurt" as the English primary name, in accordance with "Universität Klagenfurt" and with other major Austrian universities? (There would be redirections from "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt", and from "Universität Klagenfurt", and if you insist also from "Klagenfurt University", anyway.) And where were you all when "University of Klagenfurt", which was the article's title from 2004 to 2012, was single-handedly changed into "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt"? Please let decent simplicity (instead of unnecessary complexity), straightforwardness, and encyclopedic consistency have a chance, and bring back some entropy into the chaos. --Cambridge51 (talk) 22:53, 5 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Cambridge51, I understand your point that the longer names, which can be found in the imprints of the web sites of several Austrian universities, might have been registered by private law. As i believe that almost any English title would be better than the current German one, and as i don't want to constitute an obstacle to improvement, i've changed my contribution from oppose to comment. Personally, i would still prefer Klagenfurt University, but will probable not launch a request for a move to that name in the near future. For the discussion with В²C, where he or she demands that you produce citations of reliable English-language sources showing that the proposed title is most commonly used, WP:ACON#Universities_and_colleges might be of help. --K1812 (talk) 12:32, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Comment on fallacy, then agree overall — Cambridge51 While I agree the University of Klagenfurt has its merits, and believe a change to either English name would seem appropriate, you can't use the argument Klagenfurt University would not be used in English because we always say "University of ...". This simply ins't true, look at Durham University and Newcastle University. What matters is how the university styles itself and whether this is how it is commonly referenced. For example, the ones you listed style themselves as "University of ..." whereas Durham and Newcastle style themselves as "... Univeristy". There are others based on place names which also take this format. However, I would completely agree the use of Universität Klagenfurt in German doesn't mean it should be referred to as Klagenfurt University in English, that would be a translational fallacy. The translation of "Universität ..." to "University of " is common, if not standard (see University of Hamburg and University of Bremen), so would say this is an appropriate name change Shadowssettle_(talk) 13:50, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Dear K1812 and Shadowssettle, thank you very much for your contributions, this is very helpful and conclusive indeed! Dear В²C, please do have a look at WP:ACON#Universities_and_colleges, as K1812 suggests.

@K1812, I fully agree that "almost any English title would be better than the current German one". I could live with both "University of Klagenfurt" or "Klagenfurt University", but still think that the former is the better solution (and the one that was already in effect from 2004 to 2012), endorsed by WP:ACON#Universities_and_colleges—thank you very much again for pointing to this—and by Shadowssettle ("The translation of "Universität ..." to "University of " is common, if not standard").

I just looked up the English Wikipedia names of the oldest universities worldwide; it quite generally is the "University of ..." form: University of Bologna, University of Paris, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Montpellier, University of Salamanca, University of Padua, University of Naples, University of Toulouse, University of Lisbon and so on. So this is a very solid and traditional solution; of course also inspired by the respective mother tongues (Université de, Università [degli studi] di, Universidad de, Universiteit van, ...). However, there is not a single example (to the best of my knowledge) where the name of the city would appear before the word "Universität" in German; so it's the same sequence.

From a semantic point of view, one could also think of completely different solutions, such as "University of Austria at Klagenfurt" or "University of Austria, Klagenfurt" (cf. University of California, Davis). This would provide organisational and financing information through the name. But I've never read anything alike it; so it's an academic question, and the very opposite of a common name.

Re the British universities, I found that the "University of ..." form also seems to prevail for the not-so-ancient plate glass universities: For instance, University of East Anglia, University of Essex, University of Kent, University of Lancaster, University of Sussex, University of Warwick, University of York. Another example for the other way round is Keele University. It is interesting to see that also for Durham University, Newcastle University, and Keele University, the legal names seem to be "University of ..." (that's what their wikipedia articles say unanimously), but their common name seems to be the other way round. As already noted, both ways seem to work fine for Oxford and Cambridge, even within the same text.

By the way, here's another "independent, reliable English-language source" (WP:COMMONNAME) that has "University of Klagenfurt", the Austrian Science Fund (FWF): [20]. Still, I think that a mere frequency account of English-language quality sources will not save us, because there's just not enough reliable data, and too much variance. The rule book repeatedly hints to this small data situation, and to alternative ways for finding a solution, e.g., in WP:NAMINGCRITERIA or WP:USEENGLISH. However, WP:ACON#Universities_and_colleges is the most helpful and specific rule book and conventions source so far, especially regarding consistency. There is not much to be added.

Thank you again for what could end with convergence, after quite some journey ;) --Cambridge51 (talk) 19:44, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

An American researching this university is going to find this[21]. Why should we use a different name? That’s just confusing. —В²C ☎ 21:54, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And why is the very same [22] not confusing for the University of Graz? Does it mean that the title of its English Wikipedia article has to be moved to Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz? Does all the argumentation rest on one source now?

Of course there will be redirects from the alternate names, and the German names "Universität Klagenfurt" and "Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt" will be in the first line of the text: "The native spelling of a name [here: the alternate name] should generally be included in parentheses, in the first line of the article [...]", WP:USEENGLISH.

There are at least four different names out there (Universität Klagenfurt, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt University); plus others that definitely shouldn't be there (Alps-Adriatic University Klagenfurt, Alpen Adria University, and so on). Yes, this is confusing. What's wrong with applying WP:ACON#Universities_and_colleges? And what about the English Wikipedia names of other Austrian universities? Don't you think that (aiming at) consistency is an issue here? --Cambridge51 (talk) 23:02, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Addendum I've now checked the QS World University Rankings site [23] more systematically. They rather often use the mother-tongue name of German universities: It is "Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn" [24] for the University of Bonn, "Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg" [25] for Heidelberg University, "Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen" [26] for the University of Tübingen, "Albert-Ludwigs-Universitaet Freiburg" (with "ae") [27] for the University of Freiburg, "Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg" [28] for the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, and so on. (You will find many more examples.) Sometimes they also get the name entirely wrong; e.g., "University Duesseldorf" [29] (no "of") for the University of Düsseldorf. This is a strenuous appeal, empirically substantiated, not to take the QS page as the gold standard for the names of universities in the English Wikipedia. Otherwise, we would have to change a real lot of university names here... --Cambridge51 (talk) 23:31, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Not that QS would have a clear house policy, or house style, for this. For universities in the Netherlands, they usually have the English names, but not always; for universities in Italy, it's completely mixed; for universities in Spain, it's predominantly Spanish, but not exclusively; and so on. So much for consistency/confusion. This is clear-cut and unequivocal: WP:ACON#Universities_and_colleges. --Cambridge51 (talk) 23:46, 6 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Support. Cambridge51 has convinced me that reliable English sources are lacking for this particular topic, and that proposed title meets CRITERIA better than the current title, per all of his/her diligent work above. Thank you. --В²C ☎ 18:37, 7 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

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