On Sun 19 Dec 2004, Andrew Black andrew3@black1.org.uk wrote:

Can someone explain what a locale is meant to do in Openguides - what sort of area is it meant to cover. Specifically I have seen a couple of entries with Locale = "Southwark" that I don't consider to be within Southwark. I assume that it is not meant to cover the London Borough of that name.

For me, a locale is the answer to the question "where is foo?" So for example if someone said "Where is Manna?" I'd say "Primrose Hill", and so that's its locale. If someone said "Where is the Crabtree Tavern?" I'd answer "Well, it's sort of on the border of Hammersmith and Fulham", so it's in both locales.

If something's down as being in Southwark but you know Southwark well and you disagree, then you're probably right and the locale was added by someone who doesn't know the area very well - sort of the "South of the river is all the same place" syndrome.

I've added this to the openguides FAQ: http://openguides.org/dev/?node=FAQ

Kake