User talk:98Nascar

Mhhutchins 00:02, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank You!
Thank you for joining the ISFDB and contributing as an editor. Adding and updating publication records in the ISFDB is not a simple process. We don't expect all editors to get it right the first time, and we know it may take some time to learn the ins and outs, and all of the tricks. Please be patient with us as we guide you through this process. We will try our best to also be patient, but being human, it may appear that a moderator can be nitpicking, or even overbearing at times. Please be assured that it isn't personal, and we're only trying our best to achieve the quality of data that our users have come to expect. Together we can build a better database. The best piece of advice I can offer is to take some time to read this help page. It has instructions on how to enter each field of a publication record. If you need further assistance, don't hesitate to inquire at the help desk. Again, thank you for becoming a vital part of the ISFDB. Mhhutchins 00:04, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

Linking uploaded images to the publication record
Thanks for uploading cover images to the ISFDB wiki. The next step is to link those images to the records of the books for which these are the covers. As the instructions (step 6) explain:


 * Once the file has been uploaded, the image's wiki page will appear. In order to get the URL (address) for the image you just uploaded, left click anywhere on the image and copy the URL from your browser's address window. (Or right click on the image and choose "Copy Image Location".) If you're adding a cover image to a pub record, this is the URL which you would enter into the pub record's "Image URL" field.

So once you have the image's URL, go back to the pub record (it's linked on the image's wiki page) and then click the "Edit This Pub" link under the Editing Tools menu. This opens up an edit page. Under the Publication Metadata section, there's a field labeled "Image URL:" Enter the URL of the image you uploaded into this field, and then click on the "Submit Data" button at the bottom of the page. Once the submission has been moderated the cover image will be linked to the publication record. Thanks for contributing. Mhhutchins 00:04, 3 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Question- If I have a scan of a cover, and the one shown in the database is 'supplied by Amazon' or similar, do you want me to send it up so that in can be hosted here?98Nascar 13:56, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Publication series vs. Title series
I accepted the submission updating this record but remove the data you'd placed in the Publication Series field. Honor Harrington is a Title Series, and you can see it has already been added to the title record. To better understand the difference between a publication and a title series, please read this help page. Thanks. Mhhutchins 22:43, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Creating a new line in the Note field of a publication record
A simple keyboard "enter" stroke will not be displayed. All of the lines will appear to run on. You must create a hard break by entering  when you want to start a new line in the Note field. Thanks. (I've corrected those submissions you made today. I'm not sure if other moderators caught the earlier ones and corrected them. If you can remember which records you updated, check to see if the lines have been corrected.) Thanks for contributing. Mhhutchins 20:58, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

To respond to this message (or any other wiki posting), click on the "[edit]" link to the right. Enter your response in the dialogue box which opens. Start your message with a colon which separates and indents it from the previous message making it easier to follow the discussion. In successive messages, add another colon to the number in the previous message. End your entry with four tildes ( ~ ), which will automatically "sign" and date your message. Then click the "Save page" button. When someone has left a message on your talk page, you will be notified by a highlighted "My Messages" link when you log into the ISFDB. I have placed a "Watch" on this page so that I will be notified when you respond. Keep all discussions on the same talk page on which it begins. Do not respond on the other person's talk page. Thanks again. Mhhutchins 20:59, 24 January 2014 (UTC)


 * (You'll have to log into the wiki before: just use the same password as for the database). Stonecreek 06:56, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Victor Appleton submissions
Thanks for adding these items! However, there are some things not clear: with two submissions you tried to modify existing publication records, changing the page count and price. I had the impression that these two were also part of the boxed set you added with the two preceding submissions. Is that right? In every case could you please report what is stated on the copyright pages of the books regarding statements of edition and printing: a different page count and/or price may very well be indication of another (perhaps later) publication. For this reason, I have put this two submissions on hold.

The other submissions had to be modified: please don't add any comments or suffixes to an author's/artist's name. The software automatically puts this on display on the author's summary page, but if there's an addition, a new author is generated: 'Artist (Illustration)', which in addition isn't a meaningful name. Also, we only credit the artist who has created the art, so I dropped the designer for the respective publications and also the suffix ' (Illustration)'. But thank you very much for contributing! Stonecreek 06:52, 25 January 2014 (UTC)


 * The title 'The Alien Probe' IS a part of the boxed set. The set includes the first three (3) titles of the series, 1 - The City In The Stars ISBN 0-671-41115-2, 2 - Terror On The Moons Of Jupiter ISBN 0-671-41183-7, and 3 - The Alien Probe ISBN 0-671-42578-1. All the books I have of the series are Trade Paperbacks, are numbered at the top of the spine and in the upper right corner of the front cover. ISBN is located in the lower left of back cover with a code number/price in the lower right, 061-265-$2.75 for all three books in the boxed set. Copyright is 1981 by Stratemeyer Syndicate on all three. Published by WANDERER BOOKS, A Simon & Schuster Division of Gulf & Western Corporation. Manufactured in The United States of America. Next line is a string of numbers - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 . Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data, Appleton, Victor, pseud., The city in the stars, (Tom Swift: I). SUMMARY: Despite attempts to sabotage his newly invented fusion drive spacecraft, a young scientist investigates the sinister, eminent headof the space colony who is hiding serious flaws in his own new craft. [1. Science fiction] I.Title. PZ7.A652Ci [Fic]  80-27001  ISBN 0-671-41120-9  ISBN 0-671-41115-20 (pbk.)


 * The copyright pages are all the same except for the cataloging info and summary. I hope the helps. 98Nascar 18:43, 30 January 2014 (UTC)


 * In the light of your additional information it seems reasonable to change the date of the publication of 'The Alien Probe' to 'unknown' as for the other two volumes in the boxed set, doesn't it? I have rejected your submission for a publication change and added instead a new publication based on your information. I also added information to the other volumes of the box. Please take a look if they are correct now (and primary verify 'The Alien Probe' if you like to).
 * For War in Outer Space there still remains the possibility of a different edition/printing: you mention in the notes 'Price of $2.50 printed in upper left of back cover' which seems a significant difference to the price of $3.80 we have stated at the moment. Are both prices stated, and is there any indication of a different edition/printing? I have your submission still on hold for this reason. Sorry that it takes a bit of time, but I have been unavailable for the last days. Stonecreek 11:30, 2 February 2014 (UTC)


 * No problem on the time. The info above is all that I have on The Alien Probe. All three books in the gift set are identical except title, summary and cataloging info. The 'unknown' date may be the best solution.

The war in outer space info is the same except that the line of numbers includes a 1 - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Apparently this could be an earlier printing, hence the lower price. I have rechecked several times and the only date stated in any of the 5 books I have is a copyright date of 1981. I would love to have more info, but I can't give what I do not have. Sorry. If scans of anything would help, I can give it a whirl. 98Nascar 21:32, 4 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Thank you very much for that information: I cloned the publication you intended to update and dated it as unknown, and then approved your submission, adding some of your information, see here. Would you say that the book is a paperback or a trade paperback? And it remains to be primary verified if all is to your liking. Stonecreek 09:55, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

SFBC ed. of The Foundation Trilogy
I accepted the submission updating this record and added the note concerning the ID number on the back flap of the dustjacket. Any information entered into the "Note to Moderator" field disappears upon acceptance. So enter data about the publication in the "Note" field. Enter data about the submission in the "Note to Moderator" field. A question: you say the gutter code was on page 22 so I assumed it was a mistake and removed it from the record. Please check again and update the record. Because each of the novels are separately paginated, you should specify the novel (probably the last) and the page number on which the gutter code appears. Thanks. Mhhutchins 19:28, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Foundation and Earth
I'm somewhat puzzled. In the "Note to Moderator" of the submission to update this record, you say that the cover is not the same, even though before the submission there was no cover image linked to the record. Is the image you linked to the record the same as your copy of the book? (The image you uploaded is extremely small. Is it from your own scan or was the file taken from another website?) Thanks. Mhhutchins 20:30, 30 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Oh, I see what you mean now by the note to the moderator. I didn't see the question in the Note field about the cover image. Sorry. Mhhutchins 20:39, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Also, you updated the same record twice, before the first submission was accepted. If I accept the second submission, it will remove all of the data you added in the Note field of the first submission. I'll have to reject the second submission, and then I'll go back and add the new note to the record. Remember to wait between submissions to update the same record. The first one must be accepted before making any further submissions.

BTW, refrain from using words like "I" and "my" in a record's note field, and make it as objective as possible. I will reword the note "Everything I can find indicates it is actually 5th in the series." The reason for this is because users of the database have no idea who you (or me) are, or even care. Thanks. Mhhutchins 20:35, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Way too big!
I misunderstood that you knew the size limitations when I commented about the smallness of. I didn't intend for you to upload such a large file that greatly exceeds the ISFDB standards. Sorry.

No image should be more than 600 pixels tall, and no file should be larger than 150 kb. I'll resize it to the ISDFB standard and then re-upload the file. Thanks. Mhhutchins 02:44, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Entering catalog numbers
When you're adding a non-ISBN catalog number, remember to add the number sign (#) before the number. I've added it to this record. Thanks. Mhhutchins 17:47, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Images of the full dustjacket
It's not a good idea to post unless it entirely consists of wraparound art (an example). Our claim of "fair use" to posting such images of cover art wouldn't protect us in the case of images that contain possibly copyrighted text. And besides, the effort really doesn't add much value to the record. (Don't bother to change this current upload but consider it for future ones.) Thanks. Mhhutchins 17:55, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Page count
If you're doing a primary verification of a non-verified record, please feel free to correct the page count field if it doesn't match your copy of the book. Most of the SFBC data comes from secondary sources which usually counts the total number of pages in the book (including all pages before page 1), using a different method than the one we use. So don't hesitate to correct it. Thanks. Mhhutchins 22:55, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

1996 SFBC edition of The Demolished Man
I had to reject your submission to add a new record for this, because there was already one in the database. Please check this record with your copy and if they match do a primary verification of the record. Thanks. Mhhutchins 09:05, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * That is totally wild! I searched by ISBN, title AND author and all that turned up were 2 TP editions. Either me or this computer is screwy... Sorry to waste your time again. 98Nascar 21:34, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Not at all. Since the SFBC edition retains the ISBN of the retail edition, that would not have come up on a search. But a search for "demolished man" under "Fiction Titles" would have brought up only one NOVEL record here. Looking down the list of publications, you would have to be looking for "SFBC" and there have been five SFBC editions. (That's very unusual for a title, but this is a classic!) And you would have found that the last one reprinted the 1996 Vintage edition. Your submission gave the retail edition's ISBN in the ISBN field, and we don't do that for SFBC editions. If the SFBC edition has an SFBC-assigned ISBN, that is, it's an original publication of the SFBC, then we would put their ISBN in the ISBN field. Otherwise we use the SFBC ID number in the ISBN field for reprints of other publisher's editions. It can be rather complicated for a new editor, but you're catching on a lot faster than the average new editor, since you're updating a lot of SFBC editions. (Some people frown on SFBC editions, but personally I think they do a good job, and I've been a member on-and-off for almost 40 years!) In case you may have missed, take a little time to explore the SFBC section of the ISFDB wiki, and this special help page for entry of SFBC editions. Thanks. Mhhutchins 22:12, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the info! I too am a long time member (Joined in early 1970!) of SFBC, and own 650 or so of their books, plus other stuff too.98Nascar 22:27, 3 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Wonderful. Then you may be the one who'll be able to fill in the gaps of the missing gutter codes. If you look at lists of the club selections from 1959 through 1987, you'll see there's a column for gutter codes. Even though we've done a good job, there are still a few which are missing. Mhhutchins 23:27, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

War in Outer Space
Hello, this is just a reminder to take a look on an unresolved problem addressed in the latest section here Stonecreek 07:18, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

The White Abacus
Re this record: When data is entered into an ISFDB record's field which is not stated in the actual publication, you must give the source for that data in the "Note" field, not the "Note to Moderator" field (that disappears the second the submission is accepted). So just note something like: "Price from the primary verifier's personal records." BTW, you can remove the note about it being a "stub record" since this is now a complete and verified record, thanks to you! Mhhutchins 01:49, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Orphange
The submission to update this record made no changes. What were you wanting to change? Mhhutchins 22:06, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Fat finger that was faster than my brain. Nothing needed to be changed. Is there a way to 'cancel' an edit?98Nascar 22:08, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes. Click on "My Pending Edits" on the front page and cancel any submissions which are still in the queue. Mhhutchins 22:26, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Cetaganda
Is the cover of the SFBC edition the same cover art as the retail edition? If so, the cover art credit should be reverted to Gary Ruddell. The Note should be sufficient to explain the discrepancy. Thanks. Mhhutchins 22:34, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, they appear to be the same as best I can tell. The only discrepancy I see is that this book says 'Illustration by Stephen Hickman' on the cover flap, but 'Cover art by Gary Ruddell' on the copyright page. Any thoughts?98Nascar 22:46, 5 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Probably just a publisher error. You might want to ask the verifier of the retail edition if there's any mention of Hickman on the dustjacket. Thanks. Mhhutchins 22:50, 5 February 2014 (UTC)