User talk:Bob63

Kraang 02:56, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

minor edit
As my first *ahem* "official act, I made a relatively minor edit to the Title page for Venus, by Ben Bova. My membership here came about as I was editing my database of e-books.

I was seeking information online about various titles I've acquired, and came across a link to isfdb.org. In particular, as I was working on Venus, I checked to see how it was listed in your database, and discovered that both this title and Mars were both listed as the first book in the Grand Tour series. Although Mr. Bova is a wonderful author, I was fairly certain that he wouldn't be able to write two separate novels as "firsts". I did some hunting and in relatively short order found the series info and timeline on his website, which confirmed his wikipedia page listing Venus as number 16 in the series.

Venus
Liked your explanation! But there are only 5 other books listed (so far). Sure this shouldn't be number 6? ~Bill, --Bluesman 01:01, 15 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Went and found the chronology and then looked at the over-all series. There are two sub-series that 'remove/alternately place' six of the books. Does look like a few of the first ones could be placed in order. Looks like only the 'heavenly body' books have been given a number. Since Bova draws a separate chronology for the one sub-series, best to leave them as they are. One problem with the database software is that (as yet) no book can appear in two series at the same time. This does make numbering Venus as 16 problematic. I'll get back to you! Welcome, and thanks for editing! ~Bill, --Bluesman 01:16, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Consensus seems to be "Go for it!" So I will approve the first edit. You let me know if you want to try the rest or not. ~Bill, --Bluesman 21:09, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Venus
Thanks for the welcome, and I hope to be more of a help than a hindrance. :) Hopefully I'll be putting my previous library experience to good use. No formal training, unfortunately, but several years of clerking in a small library of about 10k books that we tried to keep properly organized.

Bluesman, I apologize for not checking with you prior to submitting the change; you'd think after 46 years I'd learn to read all the directions... Anyhow, I based the number on, which I think you might be referring to.

As for this Grand Tour series, it's already looking as if I've caught myself, not unlike the monkey trap: Can't get loose without letting go, and have no intention of letting go.

Here's a question about verification sources - and if it is answered elsewhere, just point me to it. I understand that most online sources such as Wikipedia should probably not be taken as gospel truth. (Last year my local senator's entry said he was born on Mars!) But what about an author's website? Is there any thought or consensus as to the overall reliability of information gleaned from such web pages? While it would be natural, I suppose, to assume that the author knows the chronology of his/her series, I don't know how many authors are also the author of their webpages.

However, if it were assumed that information such as a series chronology published on an author's webpage is correct, then adjusting the series order for the Grand Tour series would be rather straightforward. Any thoughts? Bob63 01:35, 16 March 2010 (UTC)