How should we clean up the tags university-libraries, academia, and academic?

So far we have the following tags:

• university-libraries (14 questions)

The following tag was introduced after the start of this discussion:

• academic-libraries (2 questions)

The following existed but were removed after tag edits:

• academic
• academia

We have never had the following tags:

• college-libraries
• research-libraries

"College libraries" is usually taken to include university libraries, but many colleges aren't universities, so the reverse isn't true. Academic libraries are both college and university libraries. Research libraries are most academic libraries a few major public libraries (e.g., NYPL).

Nobody's using the tag "academic." The distinction between academia and academic libraries is probably very small in this site's context. The use of "public-libraries" and "university-libraries" indicates that the "-libraries" ending is standard here.

Real-life organizations include such groups as the Association of College and Research Libraries and the Association of Research Libraries. "College libraries" and "research libraries" are therefore recognized terms in the broader professional community.

This looks like it may need some cleanup before it gets out of control, possibly by designating one or two central tags and several synonyms. Suggestions?

1. Alan Thomas II

• feature-request
• status-completed
• tags
• tag-synonyms
• retagging

Comments

Answer by M. Alan Thomas II

My suggestion here is to make the following tag a main tag:

• academic-libraries

Implement as a synonym of the new main tag:

• university-libraries

While synonyms cannot be created for presently non-existing tags, the following are eligible for future synonyming if the occasion arises:

• college-libraries
• academia
• academic

Finally, research-libraries should be a separate tag. The tag wiki should be used to disambiguate it from the above.

Comments

• dsalo: Hrm. I can imagine an on-topic question tagged "academia" that wouldn't quite be synonymous with "academic-library." But we can deal with that if/when it happens, yes? In that case, sure, this seems fine.
• 1. Alan Thomas II: Any preference on college libraries vs. academic libraries? I generally hear people speak of college libraries but academic librarians.
• dsalo: Really? I hear "academic libraries" where I am... but that may be to disambiguate from our local "College Library."
• 1. Alan Thomas II: I'll wait to hear from somebody else before I edit the answer to reflect "consensus," but I'll keep that in mind.
• Joe Atzberger: Academic is better (broader) than University or College, but apparently less colloquial. I think it is safe to say we are all disinterested in any status distinctions between University, College, Community College, Tech School, etc. I'd use Academic for all of them.
• Deborah Mould: College libraries is definitely a term not used in my country. I'd go with academic libraries as that would encompass Unis, Colleges, TAFE (Technical and Further Education), etc.
• 1. Alan Thomas II: People seem to be accepting the proposal without actually upvoting it. I'll forward it to the moderator, but don't forget to vote, not just leave supportive comments!