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The tag popped up last week on Are PTFE stir bars resistant to all lab solvents? I see its function and relevance, but in general I am afraid it will not be used often enough to keep it on its own. The reason that I think that is, that it is basically just a generalisation of the tag which is already only used 26 times.

Related to this we might specify what is meant with equipment and maybe adjust the naming of this tag. What I want to avoid is, that it becomes too meta, since equipment can be almost everything. I want to avoid that questions concerning an NMR will also be equipped with this tag.

I therefore propose one of the following:

  • I think a more general tag would do no harm. Keep the newly created , write a wiki page for it, keep glassware as a synonym.
  • Extend the scope of to include a wider scope of laboratory equipment. In principle I am just saying ignore the fact that a stir bar is not made out of glass. Delete the tag equipment or make it a synonym.
  • Just delete the tag equipment since it is covered by sufficiently.

If you can think of another solution, please weigh in in the comments or as an answer.

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  • $\begingroup$ I had exactly the same thoughts when I saw that tag appear. I initially retagged it with glassware but then had second thoughts since the question was specifically about equipment that wasn't made of glass. +1 for merging and creating a tag wiki along the lines of that suggested by @M.A.Ramezani $\endgroup$
    – bon
    Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 20:35
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    $\begingroup$ I'm for the first bullet suggestion. $\endgroup$
    – jerepierre
    Commented Jun 29, 2015 at 23:16
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for your inputs - this is also my favourite. @bon I usually would have done the same thing, but in this case I'd rather bring it up to meta since we can profit from that change in the long run. $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン Mod
    Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 2:58

1 Answer 1

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I vote for one.

doesn't really cover a question about the equipment that's used in the lab, sufficiently.

isn't that good of a tag name if the equipment you're talking about isn't really a glass. Also, it's [read: was] being misused in some questions directly about glasses.

Furthermore, making a tag wiki for isn't really hard. If a question gets mistagged, we could easily link the OP to the tag wiki. Here's my proposed wiki; if people agree with putting it there, I (or one of us) will do:

Excerpt:

Questions regarding the equipment used in labs. (such as flasks, tubes etc.)

Wiki:

This tag should be applied to questions that are about the equipment used in labs, and techniques of keeping them, their uses, or their maintenance. The questions with this tag should be directly about the equipment; and any other questions witch do not directly deal with them and are about the experimental methods involving the mentioned equipment should be tagged with .

Update: I cracked knuckles, got a little bit grumpy and whiny, and with some sweating, I proposed an edit to the tag wikis. Hope I'm imaginative enough:

Excerpt:

Questions regarding the equipment used in labs (such as flasks, tubes etc.), their operation and maintenance.

Wiki:

This tag should be applied to questions that are about the equipment used in labs, and techniques of keeping them, their uses, or their maintenance.

The questions should only be about the equipments chemists use in the lab; such as glassware (beakers, flasks, bottles, pipettes, watch glasses, glass rods etc.) or other equipment; namely, tongs, holders, plastic bars, burners, spatulas etc. Please note that glassware falls under this category.

The questions with this tag should be directly about the equipment; and any other questions which do not directly deal with them and are about the experimental methods involving the mentioned equipment should be tagged with experimental-chemistry and any other relevant tags.

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  • $\begingroup$ You can go ahead and create the wiki, but I'll wait a little longer for the merge, see if any other people weigh in. I would suggest explicitly stating the term "glassware" in the excerpt and maybe include a couple of examples in the tag wiki. Go ahead, be creative :D $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン Mod
    Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 3:01
  • $\begingroup$ Possibly make the excerpt a bit more specific as well. Perhaps Questions relating to the operation and maintenance of laboratory equipment $\endgroup$
    – bon
    Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 10:52
  • $\begingroup$ If this answer gets 6 upvotes, I'll initiate my tag-wiki-editing rockets . . . I mean fingers. $\endgroup$
    – M.A.R.
    Commented Jun 30, 2015 at 21:27
  • $\begingroup$ OK, so I got a downvote. This either means 1) It was a random and thoughtless bad joke. 2) It wasn't a random and thoughtless bad joke. If it's the latter, could the downvoter say what their opinion is and how could it be better than what I suggested? $\endgroup$
    – M.A.R.
    Commented Jul 2, 2015 at 23:31
  • $\begingroup$ I count six upvotes ;) Get to work! $\endgroup$
    – Martin - マーチン Mod
    Commented Jul 7, 2015 at 11:48
  • $\begingroup$ Now$\ldots$ Martin, I did my part, so we need your hammer to synonymize glassware. $\endgroup$
    – M.A.R.
    Commented Jul 7, 2015 at 19:09

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