IMPA coding

Article summary

The Marine Stores Guide, published and licensed by the International Marine Purchasing Association (IMPA) is widely considered to be the world's leading reference source in the marine industry for maritime purchasing and supply. The Guide provides a universal coding system to facilitate communication between crew, owner and supplier, making the specification and supply of goods simple, quick and effective. This aims to bridge the language barrier and offer worldwide shipping companies an easy way to order goods. This system has been used for over 40 years, growing from a small item list to a 50,000+ unique-item list.

Key claims

1. date of formation: 1978 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. members: 1000 members — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of formation is "1978". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the members is "1000 members". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373711129