Category talk:Canals

rivers?

various canal subcategories for countries are subcategories of rivers of the country category. Is this right? Should canals just be subcats of geography cats or what? Hmains 19:29, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

You are entering a minefield! Canals are (mostly) man-made waterways, rivers are natural ones, and both are geographical features. Some rivers are navigable, some rivers have been made navigable by the addition of canal-type infrastructure, and some canals (like the Kennet and Avon Canal) have stretches of river between lengths of canal... With all this in mind, do you have any particular examples that you are concerned about? EdJogg 00:33, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

See Category:Canals in Belgium in Category:Rivers of Belgium and Category:Canals in Germany in Category:Rivers of Germany. Some canals are also in their country's 'buildings and structures' category. Hmains 02:44, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

OK. But there's no harm in them residing in multiple categories:

• Rivers/Canals -- canals are navigable waterways
• Geography -- canals make up part of the country landscape
• Buildings & Structures -- canals are man-made
• Water transport, etc

Personally I find the geographical categories the least helpful for canals, with buildings & structures probably the best, and rivers additional. Different users will be looking from different directions...

EdJogg 08:52, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

I can see Geography, Buildings/structures, Transport as being OK and useful. The problem I have is with the river categories, as rivers are Landforms. Landforms are nature-made without exception that I know of. Hmains 17:34, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair point. So a canal cat should not be in a river subcat, and vice versa, although there will be cases where individual canals/rivers may be appropriate in the opposite cats (eg Kennet & Avon, again). I am still concerned that there may be some users who will come from a 'river' direction, looking for canals, so perhaps it would be appropriate to include cross-linking text – maybe something like:

This category is for rivers in XXXX. For other navigable waterways, see Category:Canals in XXXX

...although I'm not too fussed what the exact wording might be. Any help?

EdJogg 20:25, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

I would write: This category is for rivers in XXXX; for canals, see Category:Canals in XXXX WHY: there are other navigable waterways than just rivers and canals. Example: the US eastern coast waterway between the barrier islands and the North American continent. Hmains 21:30, 23 June 2007 (UTC)