Talk:British Council

message: In Feb 2010, the physical library transitioned to a virtual library titled 'MyLibrary' where anybody can still borrow books and the books will be delivered to their doorstep.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.242.117.233 (talk) 05:26, 11 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Physical Library to Online Library in Mumbai 

message: The British Council is incorrectly categorised as a department of the UK government. Note that it is a charity, and the Charity Commission gives as a "Key Legal Principle" that "Charities must be independent of government and other funders" http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/supportingcharities/polstat.asp . Clearly the British Council, as a legal charity, must by definition be independent of government, and so cannot be a department of the UK government. It is also true that the British Council receives government funding - £186.2 million in the current year. Its status is therefore anomalous.
: I'm not sure it is, many charities in the UK have their single biggest funding source as the UK government in one form or another. Alci12 15:24, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Status

message: Want an example of the failure of the Wikipedia method over a standard encyclopedia? Look no further than this page. This article could easily be used by critics as an example of how Wikipedia isn't working very well. I find it sad that this article is such a mess and reads more like a rant than serving the purpose of providing useful information. I have been keeping an eye on the page for a couple of years now (years!) and it just seems to be getting worse. I am a teacher of the British Council and so cannot do anything myself, but it is clearly a biased (I would say twisted) look at an organisation that (in the opinion of a lot of people) does a lot of good work.Bcgstanley13:57, 31 May 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: You can bring specific issues, other than your own rant for fixing. Does a certain paragraph need more references? Is one section not impartial enough, if so, where can we get the other point of view? Help good-faith editors better the article. From Selma to Fresno (talk) 18:25, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

text: Please read Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, Wikipedia:No original research and Wikipedia:Verifiability. Newspapers, even bad ones, have editors and people responsible for fact checking. Blogs are self-published and are very rarely reliable.--Nydas(Talk) 08:09, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  This article is becoming a mess 

message: Please stop edit warring. Discuss here to achieve consensus and instead of expressing unsubstantiated opinions, forbidden by WP:TPG, provide verifiable reliable sources per guide below on referencing. Also sign posts on talk pages with 4 tildes ~ . Thank you. Tyrenius 19:40, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Please take the disputed material out of the article, copy it onto this talk page, and discuss it with regard to references and achieving a balanced article per WP:NPOV. Tyrenius 23:16, 12 August 2007 (UTC)

text: I have tidied up the article, and tagged elements which, in my view need to be cited. — Grstain | Talk 13:31, 13 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Edit war

message: Click on "show" to open contents.
Using references (citations)
I thought you might find it useful to have some information about  references (refs) on wikipedia. These are important to validate your writing and inform the reader. Any editor can removed unreferenced material; and unsubstantiated articles may end up getting deleted, so when you add something to an article, it's highly advisable to also include a reference to say where it came from. Referencing may look daunting, but it's easy enough to do. Here's a guide to getting started. 
;Good references
A reference must be accurate, i.e. it must prove the statement in the text. To validate "Mike Brown climbed Everest", it's no good linking to a page about Everest, if Mike Brown isn't mentioned, nor to one on Mike Brown, if it doesn't say that he climbed Everest. You have to link to a source that proves his achievement is true. You must use Reliable sources, such as published books, mainstream press, authorised web sites, and official documents. Blogs, Myspace, Youtube, fan sites and extreme minority texts are not usually acceptable, nor is Original research, e.g. your own unpublished, or self-published, essay or research.
;Simple referencing
The first thing you have to do is to create a "Notes and references" section. This goes towards the bottom of the page, below the "See also" section and above the "External links" section. Enter this code:
:==Notes and references==
:
The next step is to put a reference in the text. Here is the code to do that. It goes at the end of the relevant term, phrase, sentence, or paragraph to which the note refers, and after punctuation such as a full stop, without a space (to prevent separation through line wrap): 
:             
Whatever text you put in between these two tags will become visible  in the "Notes and references" section as your reference.
;Test it out
Copy the following text, open the edit box for this page, paste it at the bottom (inserting your own text) and save the page:
:==Reference test==
:This is the text which you are going to reference. Substitute your own text in this space 
:==Notes and references==
:
(End of text to copy and paste.)
;Information to include
You need to include the information to enable the reader to find your source. For a book it might look like this:
: Smith, Timothy: "A Guide to Planets", page 29. Solar  Publishing, 2001  
An online newspaper source would be:
: Plunkett, John.  "Sorrell accuses Murdoch of panic buying", The Guardian,  2005-10-27. Retrieved on 2005-10-27.  
Note the square brackets around the URL. The format is [URL Title] with a space between the URL and the Title. If you do this the URL is hidden and the Title shows as the link. Use double apostrophes for the article title, and two single quote marks either side of the name of the paper (to generate italics). 
The date after The Guardian is the date of the newspaper, and the date after "Retrieved on" is the date you accessed the site – useful for searching the web archive in case the link goes dead. Wikilinks (double square brackets which create an internal link to a wikipedia article) function inside the ref tags. Dates are wikilinked so that they work with user preference settings.
;Citation templates
You may prefer to use a citation template to compile details of the source. The template goes between the ref tags and you fill out the fields you wish to. Basic templates can be found here: Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles/Citation quick reference 
;Same ref used twice or more
The first time a reference appears in the article, you can give it a simple name in the  code:
:<ref name=smith> DETAILS OF REF 
The second time you use the same reference in the article, you need only to create a short cut instead of typing it all out again:
:
You can then use the short cut as many times as you want. Don't forget the /, or it will blank the rest of the article! A short cut will only pick up from higher up the page, so make sure the first ref is the full one. Some symbols don't work in the ref name, but you'll find out if you use them.
;Example
You can see refs in action in the article William Bowyer (artist). There are 3 sources and they are each referenced 3 times. Each statement in the article has a footnote to show what its source is.
;Next step
When you become familiar with the process, the next step is to have one section, "Footnotes", with links embedded in the text, and another, "References", which lists all of your references alphabetically with full details, e.g. for a book:
:Lincoln, Abraham; Grant, U. S.; & Davis, Jefferson (1861). Resolving Family Differences Peacefully (3rd ed.). Gettysburg: Printing Press. . 
If you're ready to go into it further, these pages have detailed information:
*Wikipedia:Citing sources
*Wikipedia:Citing sources/example style
*Wikipedia:Citation templates
*Wikipedia:Footnotes
I hope this helps. If you need any assistance, let me know.
As a British Council employee I have to sday that it is run by a bunch of no-hopers.  Morons the lot of 'em.
Tyrenius 19:41, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Guide to referencing 

message: The BC is an arm of the British government and may serve as cover for espionage.  This article needs to address such charges.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.194.63.129 (talk) 00:54, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Not an innocent actor in IR 

message: Have added a section to this website regarding the IAESTE programme administered by the British Council in the UK.  Only 1 reference really needed.
IAESTENI (talk) 11:43, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Additional Information 

message: The image :File:IELTSlogo.jpg is used in this article under a claim of fair use, but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the requirements for such images when used here.  In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page.  Please check
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thread_title: Image copyright problem with File:IELTSlogo.jpg

message: Is there any need for such an extensive 'historical anecdotes' section? Doesn't seem highly useful or noteworthy. Ankur Banerjee (talk) 20:12, 22 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Historical anecdotes needed? 

message: I have removed the multiple issues tag . This tag has been in place for over a year with a large amount of editing to the article and little discussion on the talkpage. It is obvious to me that the tag does not reflect issues throughout the whole of this large article. It would be more constructive therefore if anyone with specific issues can tag those specific sections or sentences so that they can be dealt with. Polargeo (talk) 11:41, 10 September 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Multiple issues tag removed 

message: The article starts:
:The British Council is an arm's length body. . . .
Is this a grotesquely mixed metaphor that actually means something, and if so, what? Or is it merely nonsensical? -- Hoary (talk) 06:51, 10 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Body language

message: This site has details of BC activity across UK, is it possible in use it in the article, as it seems quite important? http://activitymap.britishcouncil.org/  (79.190.69.142 (talk) 15:15, 12 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: BC activity across UK

message: Jeremy Hunt - Health Minister - any connection with the British Council?  His declared interests notes he receives £1000 a month for 2 hours work with them via his company Hot Courses - should this be added as a contemporary topic?212.139.100.203 (talk) 23:42, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Involvement with Jeremy Hunt ! 

message: I know it's registered on the UK Charity Commission's website and is considered a charity but shouldn't there be at least a few sentences if not a section on how the British Council is funded?  If it's something that can be summed up quickly then it can go into intro or into the history section, especially if it's been funded the same way since it's creation or there have been funding changes it. Cat-fivetc  ---- 04:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Funding 

message: Because file robots.txt forbids seek Japanese branch of the British Council. About: robots.txt. - 176.15.238.52 (talk) 22:01, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Food for thinkings softly speaking 

message: Hello, I’m in a Communications role here at the British Council and have joined Wikipedia as the article page has become pretty confusing and doesn’t appear to meet various Wikipedia standards. Given that I am an employee of the organisation, I am not able to make any edits to the article myself but would like to ask for the community’s help to see if there are any ways to make the article much better for a reader.
As a starter, I think it could be helpful if the article had information based around the three broad themes of the British Council’s work across the world (Arts, English and Exams, Education and Society)? Or, perhaps, it might be useful to include information about the British Council’s most up-to-date programmes and initiatives, which do not appear to be included in the article page as it is quite out-of-date in parts, for e.g., the Prime Minister’s Global Fellowship programme.
It would be great to know what the community thinks and if these sound like sensible suggestions to improve the article’s usefulness. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alis1716 (talk • contribs) 
:If you could write up exactly what you'd like inserted, and it is referenced/cited properly, I'd be happy to approve the edits, assuming they fall within guidelines. Wilipino (talk) 11:06, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Declining request. As Wilipino says, please provide specifics. – S. Rich (talk) 08:59, 15 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article improvement 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Anybody? Brussels is the Capital of the EU.  It would be interested to have an idea how much budget and staff they foresee to represent them at the EU institutions and have it compared to the budgets by other "International cultural organizations/Cultural promotion organizations" s.a. the Alliance Française, the Goethe Institut, the Instituto Cervantes, the Taalunie. Thy --SvenAERTS (talk) 21:20, 29 July 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Brussels Office budget and staff ? 

message: The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:
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thread_title:  A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion 

message: Modern English Academy Pattan (formerly known as Triumphant English Academy) provides best English speaking in Pattan town.   — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mir Zameer (talk • contribs) 13:54, 22 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi . This talk page is really only intended to be a place for discussing ways to improve the Wikipedia article :British Council. It's not clear what "Modern English Academy Pattan" has to do with that and the content you've tried to add to the article about the school is not really appropriate for Wikipedia  and has been removed. It appears that you might be misunderstanding the purpose of Wikipedia and a Wikipedia article; so, I suggest you take a look at :Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not, particularly the part about "Wikipedia is not a soapbox or means of promotion" for reference. Perhaps "Modern English Academy Pattan" is a really good English school, but that's not really relevant to the subject of this article and in general to really relevant to Wikipedia; if you want to tell everyone how great the schools, then perhaps there's an alternative that's a better place than Wikipedia where you can do so. -- Marchjuly (talk) 21:55, 22 February 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: I was quite surprised to find no mention of the libraries in this article, except in the "Cuts" section. The library is the first thing I think of when I think of the British Council. Also doesn't it seem we should at least mention that some of the branches have (or had) libraries before we talk about how they are being cut? GA-RT-22 (talk) 01:56, 15 September 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Libraries 

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message: im the princess of st francis
boris id s princess from foren lands  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.92.184.122 (talk) 13:04, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: